


Hospital Days

by Carpenterfan03



Category: descendants - Fandom, pretty Little Liars the perfectionists
Genre: Cancer, Children’s Cancer, Family, Friendship, Gen, Hospital, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:54:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 45,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27685879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carpenterfan03/pseuds/Carpenterfan03
Summary: Everything was finally starting to be okay as Ava Jalali was finally starting to settle into her new role as not just a college student, but as a single mom to her little siblings 14 year old Carlos and 2 year old Mal. Everything was going well. That is until everything changed one night. Now Ava is not only a struggling college student trying to raise two healthy kids, but now she is a struggling college student trying to raise one healthy kid and one terminally ill toddler while still trying to remain strong for both of them.PS: This is an AU version of my series Why Did You Leave Us Too and Left Behind. None of the events in this story happened in those original stories except for the original storyline of Ava leaving her siblings to be raised in Auradon and they come back two years later. Other than that nothing else is the same.
Kudos: 18





	1. Happy Times Before The Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: I know I already have a lot of stories, but this is part of my texting stories that I'm already doing on youtube, so I figured I'm already doing it. I might as well use it in an actual story as well. This is going to be an AU version of my story Why Did You Leave Us Too. It's connected in that the original storyline is the same, but everything other than that is not part of my Why Did You Leave Us Too and Left Behind series as I didn't want this to be in that series since I want to keep that series as it is already. Also warning this story will be dealing with heavy topics like children's cancer. I promise I will be doing the research, so that I can write it as accurately as possible because I like to do my stories on real problems that people face especially when it comes to children since I understand that not everything is always happy and good all the time. Anyway sorry for my long rant now onto the story. And please let me know what you all thought so far. 

Jane laughed as she sat with Carlos in his sister's dorm. It was the weekend again which meant Carlos was back for the weekend. Jane had decided to come with him since Ava agreed that he could bring her as long as nothing happened.

Right now Ava was out studying with her friends leaving Carlos and Jane in charge. Jane laughed as she watched Carlos bounce his small sister making her giggle. "You know you're such a sweet guy!" Jane told Carlos, making him blush.

"Aw thanks!" Carlos embarrassingly told Jane, making her laugh. "I'm serious! I mean I just love how you care so much about your baby sister and dropped everything to help her!" Jane gushingly told Carlos, making him blush red again.

"Yeah I mean I love her! She's my adorable little puppy! I would just be so heartbroken if anything bad ever happened to her! Isn't that right Mally!" Carlos told Jane and then the small toddler as he tickled the small girl making her laugh again.

"Aw!" Jane screamed out excitedly as she just loved seeing her secret crush be such a sweetheart especially with his adorable baby sister.

Carlos just blushed again as he looked up and got a good look at Jane's sparking doe eyes as he lost all concentration. "You know um Jane I have to tell you something," Carlos nervously told his crush as he was finally feeling confident enough to tell her the truth.

"Sure you can tell me anything!We're best friends!"Jane told Carlos, making him sigh as those words secretly hurt. He didn't want to be in the friend zone. Carlos just took a deep breath as he decided to go for it anyway.

"Yeah best friends oh you got me!" Carlos told Jane in a joking voice so she would think he was just playing around as he was starting to have doubts again about doing this.

Jane just watched Carlos as she could tell he was telling her anything. "So what do you have to say," Jane asked Carlos, hoping to get him to tell her what he had originally wanted to say.

Carlos just sighed as he took a deep breath knowing he was too far gone and he would have to do it now.

"Okay so um I know you don't see me like this but I think you're such an amazing girl and you're so pretty and I sorta have had a crush on you for years now since I first met you when I first enrolled at Auradon Prep!" Carlos rambled out nervously making Jane immediately start blushing as she looked at him.

Jane had also been secretly crushing on Carlos, but was too afraid that he wouldn't like her like that and she would be crushed, but now she knew that wasn't true.

"Wait really! Oh my gosh that's amazing! I feel the same way! I mean ever since I met you two years ago when you were basically raising your baby sister all on your own at 12 years old! I remember thinking you were such an amazing guy and just so sweet!" Jane rambled out making Carlos blush and smile as he knew his crush liked him back and he was so happy now.

"Thanks so what do we do now," Carlos nervously asked Jane, making her blush again. "Do you want to try um holding hands?" Jane nervously asked Carlos, making him blush.

"Yeah sure!" Carlos nervously told Jane as he grabbed her hand and started blushing in happiness and Jane did the same. "Oh my gosh this is a dream!" Jane screamed out excitedly making Carlos blush.

I know! So um this is kinda embarrassing, but have you ever kissed anyone? And I know this is so embarrassing! You don't have to answer if you don't want to!" Carlos told Jane as he was starting to feel so embarrassed.

Jane just blushed again as she looked at Carlos. "Oh um no I haven't kissed anyone. What about you?" Jane nervously told Carlos as she was feeling embarrassed that she still hadn't kissed anyone yet.

Carlos just quickly blushed again as he looked at Jane. "Oh um yeah same," Carlos nervously told Jane, making Jane get an idea, but she was afraid to say it. "Yeah so um... should we um... try it," Jane nervously asked Carlos as she had been dreaming of that day since she met him, but was too afraid to do it until now.

Carlos just looked at Jane in shock as he couldn't believe he was about to get his dream as he had been dreaming about the same thing as Jane. "You mean like kiss!" Carlos asked Jane as it was all too good to be true.

Jane just smiled. "Yeah but only if you want to!" Jane told Carlos making him smile. "Yeah I mean yeah I would love to! So how do we do this!" Carlos nervously told Jane as he had never kissed anyone before.

Jane just nervously shrugged as she didn't know how it worked either. "I don't know. I think we just lean in," Jane told Carlos who nodded as they both leaned in and kissed for about a second before quickly pulling back with the biggest smiles.

"Oh wow I just had my first kiss!" Jane screamed out excitedly making Carlos laugh as he was feeling the same way. "I know me too!" Carlos screamed out excitedly. The small toddler that they were supposed to be watching just looked at the two in disgust.

"Yucky!" The small two year old screamed out making Carlos turn his attention back to his baby sister as he started laughing. "What's yucky Mal," Carlos jokingly asked the two year old, making her point to him and Jane.

"Yucky!" The small girl screamed out again, making Carlos and Jane start laughing again. They were interrupted when the door opened as Ava had just gotten back from studying. "Okay what the heck did I miss," Ava asked when she looked at her little brother and his friend and saw them both smiling and blushing.

The small toddler just pointed to Carlos and Jane again as she looked at Ava. "Yucky!" The small girl screamed out again making Ava confused as she looked at the toddler. "Yucky," Ava asked the toddler playfully, making the small girl nod.

Ava just quickly turned her attention away from the toddler as she looked at her brother hoping to get some information out of him as the toddler was no help. "Okay what is Mal saying? What did you two do," Ava asked her brother making him feel embarrassed.

"Nothing! We just um... kissed," Carlos embarrassingly told his big sister immediately making Ava get excited as she couldn't believe her little brother finally got his first kiss. "Aw! My baby brother just had his first kiss! That's adorable!" Ava squealed out making Carlos cringe up in embarrassment.

"Ava!" Carlos screamed out hoping to get her to stop, but it just fueled her more. "Aw come on I'm excited I never thought the day would come!" Ava told her little brother as she ruffled his hair making him want to die inside from how embarrassing Ava was acting.

"Ava seriously stop you're embarrassing me!" Carlos screamed out as he looked at Jane. Ava just laughed as she was having fun with this. "Aw come on I just want to know what it was like! So how was it!" Ava asked her brother as she was having fun embarrassing him.

"Ava stop!" Carlos screamed out as he hated this conversation. Ava just started laughing again. "Was it magical!" Ava playfully asked her brother, making him groan. "Stop!" Carlos screamed out just wanting the conversation to end.

"Come on just tell me," Ava told her brother, making him quickly check the time and sigh in relief when he knew he finally had an out. "Oh I'm sorry Ava it's gonna have to wait! Jane and I have to get back to Auradon Prep! We have school in the morning!" Carlos screamed out quickly as he grabbed Jane and left making Ava sigh as she picked up the toddler.

"Okay Mal tell me the tea! What happened!" Ava playfully asked the toddler and laughed when the small girl looked at her. "Yucky!" The small girl told Ava, making her laugh again. "Is yucky all you can say," Ava playfully asked the toddler as she tickled her, making the small girl giggle.

"Alright well it's okay we can just check the cameras! Thank god for nanny cams!Right Mal!" Ava playfully told the toddler as she put on the video and smiled. "Aw that's so adorable! My baby brother is all grown up!" Ava said out loud as she couldn't believe her little brother finally had his first girlfriend.

Ava just smiled as she turned her attention to the giggling two year old that was sucking on her pacifier and playing with her dragon. "At least I still have you! " Ava told the toddler as she hugged her close to her, happy that she had her in her life.

The small girl just giggled as she looked at Ava and smiled. "Wob you mama!" The small girl innocently told Ava, making her laugh as she squeezed the toddler close to her. "Aw! Wob you too!" Ava playfully told the toddler and smiled as the small girl cuddled up with her.

Raising a toddler was hard, but Ava loved Mal with all her heart and she would just die if anything bad ever happened to the tiny girl that had completely changed her life and brought meaning to it. Ava couldn't even imagine her life without the adorable little sunshine that brought so much happiness to her life.


	2. More Happy Times Before The Storm

“I can’t believe you did that!” Carlos screamed out over the phone as it had been a few hours since he had left and was now back in his dorm at Auradon Prep. Ava just laughed deciding to play dumb. “Did what,” Ava innocently asked her brother, making him groan as he knew Ava was messing with him again.

“Totally embarrassed me in front of my crush!” Carlos screamed out as he was upset that his sister had actually done that. Ava just laughed deciding to keep messing with Carlos as it was fun and she was bored as the toddler was sleeping now. 

“What! I’m just an excited big sister! My little brother finally got his first kiss!” Ava screamed out making Carlos groan again as Ava was treating him like a baby. “Will you stop!” Carlos told his sister in annoyance making her laugh.

“No because I’m excited!” Ava screamed out happily making Carlos groan again. “Stop it’s not that big of a deal!” Carlos screamed out making Ava laugh. 

“Um what are you talking about! Of course it’s a big deal! So are you two gonna start dating?” Ava told her brother as she was excited to finally talk about that kinda stuff with her little brother.

Carlos just sighed deciding that maybe Ava could actually help him. “I don’t know! I mean it’s scary! I’ve never done this before!” Carlos admitted to his big sister making Ava smile as she loved young love.

“Aw that’s adorable!” Ava gushed out making Carlos groan again as he was sick of Ava treating him like a baby when he was almost 15 years old. “Will you stop! I am not a little kid anymore! If you want a little kid to fawn over use Mal!” Carlos screamed out hoping to stop the conversation by bringing up Mal as Mal had quickly become Ava’s favorite thing in the world.

Mal was her baby. Ava had struggled at first, but it didn’t take long for Mal to become Ava’s favorite thing in the world.

“Yeah but you’re still my little brother! And it’s your first relationship! And don’t worry Mal gets fawned over a lot! She’s basically my mini me now!” Ava told Carlos as she knew what he was doing.

He was trying to use Mal to stop the conversation knowing how much Mal was her favorite thing now. Carlos groaned when he knew his plan wouldn’t work. “Ugh why do you always have to be this way!” Carlos whined out making Ava laugh.

“I’m your big sister, it's my job!” Ava playfully told her little brother making him roll his eyes. “Why can’t you embarrass Mal and leave me alone!” Carlos told Ava trying to use Mal to stop the conversation again, but yet again it didn’t work as Ava was too smart to fall for it.

“That’s because Mal is 2 she doesn’t get embarrassed. I don’t even think she knows what that is,” Ava told Carlos letting him know she wasn’t going down that easily. Carlos just sighed as he hated talking about this with his annoying big sister.

“Can we talk about anything else please!” Carlos cried out as he just wanted to stop talking about his love life with his sister. Ava just smirked knowing that if Carlos was going to play that way she would too. “Okay fine! So how is that chemistry grade?” Ava asked Carlos knowing she caught him.

Carlos just froze as he quickly answered. “On second thought let’s keep talking about me and Jane!” Carlos screamed out not wanting to talk about how bad his grades were. Ava just sighed. “So I take it you failed that test?” Ava asked her brother as she just wanted him to pass his classes, but Carlos was still struggling in Chemistry. 

Carlos froze when he realized how much trouble he would be in. “No I didn’t fail that test!” Carlos lied out hoping Ava would take his word for it. Ava just rolled her eyes not believing a word of what Carlos said.

“Uh huh sure. You know I can check your grades now. Alison helped me find them online,” Ava told Carlos, making him freeze up in panic as he realized he was screwed. “Wait what! Carlos screamed out as he had no clue Ava could do that.

Ava just laughed as she knew she got Carlos. “Yeah I can access all of your grades whenever I want to now!” Ava told her little brother, making Carlos panic again. “Don’t you have class!” Carlos screamed out forgetting the time as he needed to stop Ava. 

Ava rolled her eyes again. “It’s night time!” Ava screamed out making Carlos panic until he remembered his secret weapon again. “Okay well what about Mal!” Carlos screamed out hoping that it would finally work this time. 

Ava groaned as this was the third time Carlos had brought Mal up into the conversation. She knew what he was doing, but she didn’t like that he was trying to us the toddler to his advantage all because he knew how close Ava was with her as Mal was her baby now.

“Why are you always trying to bring her up and it’s late. She’s sleeping or at least I hope she is,” Ava told her brother hoping to get him to stop trying to use the toddler to get out of conversations. 

Carlos smirked in victory when he saw the time as he knew it would finally work this time as he used to take care of her before coming to Auradon and he knew her sleep schedule. She would be up at this time which would finally get him away. 

“Well maybe you should go check up on her!” Carlos told Ava knowing any second now the toddler would be up and crying out for Ava. Ava just groaned again. “You just want to distract me, so I can’t check your grades!” Ava screamed out, but just like clockwork the small toddler cried out making Carlos smile.

“Mama!” The small toddler cried out as she wanted Ava making Carlos smile in victory as he had won. “I told you that you should check up on her,” Carlos told Ava playfully, enjoying his victory. Ava just sighed as she got up. “This conversation isn’t over!” Ava screamed out as she hung up the phone and ran over to the toddler’s crib. 

  
  



	3. The First Warning Sign

**Author’s Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I know this story is moving kinda slow, but I want to build up to it because that’s how the original texting story started off as well. Anyway please let me know what you all thought so far.**

“Mama! Mama! Mama!” The small toddler cried out making Ava sigh in annoyance. “Mal I’m coming! Calm down!” Ava told the toddler as she was exhausted. “Mama! Mama! Mama!” The small girl cried out again making Ava groan.

Ava just groaned as she made it to the crib “Ugh! Mal calm down! What’s Wrong” Ava screamed out as she picked up the toddler immediately calming her. The small girl just started giggling as she hugged onto Ava. “I wan you!” The small girl told Ava innocently, making Ava smile as she couldn’t help it.

“You made me rush over here because you wanted me to hold you?” Ava asked the toddler who giggled and nodded. “I wob you!” The small girl adorably told Ava making all frustration go away.

“Okay fine you’re forgiven! And I love you too! You adorable little trouble maker!” Ava playfully told the toddler making her giggle. Ava laughed when she got an idea now that the toddler was up and Carlos had no excuse anymore.

“Oh! Do you wanna call Carlos and embarrass him more!” Ava asked the toddler and laughed when the toddler got excited as she nodded. “Ya!” The small girl screamed out as she clapped her hands excitedly. 

“Okay come on,” Ava told the toddler as she pulled out her phone and dialed Carlos’s number. She laughed when Carlos picked up as he was clearly annoyed. “Ava why!” Carlos screamed out as he had been trying to sleep, but now his sister was calling to mess with him again and he just wanted to sleep.

Ava just smirked as she answered Carlos. “Because someone wants to talk to you,” Ava told her little brother as she handed her the phone. Carlos just sighed as he didn’t know what Ava was talking about he didn’t care.

“Like who,” Carlos asked in annoyance thinking it was another one of Ava’s annoying friends that was in on the whole messing with him thing, but he smiled when he realized who it actually was.

“Hewo!” The small two year old innocently screamed out making Carlos laugh. “Hey puppy!” Carlos screamed out excitedly as he loved his baby sister and he could never ignore her. The small girl just giggled as she looked at Ava who was coaching her on what to say. 

“Aw you an Ane gonna be a ding!” The small girl asked Carlos as that’s what Ava told her to ask, making Carlos freeze up in shock as he couldn’t believe his two year old sister would ask him that. Especially when the tiny girl freaked out when he was kissing Jane infront of her. 

“What!” Carlos screamed out in shock making the small girl giggle as she looked at Ava. “Mama tow me ta sa da!” The small girl told her big brother, making Carlos groan as he should have known Ava would use the toddler to make him talk.

“Okay well bye Mal,” Carlos quickly told the toddler hoping she would accept that and he could go back to sleep. “No!” The small girl screamed out as Ava was telling her not to let him hang up and she did whatever Ava told her to do because she looked up to her.

Carlos just groaned as he knew this was going to be hard to get out. “Mal I gotta go! I’m tired. I’ll talk to you later puppy. I love you,” Carlos told the toddler hoping she would finally accept it, but the small girl still wasn’t giving in.

“No!” The small two year old screamed out making Carlos sigh. “Mal please I gotta go,” Carlos whined out to the toddler who still refused to give in. “No! Mama sa you hab a sa!” The young two year old cried out making Carlos sigh in defeat as he knew Mal wasn’t going to give up.

“No Mal, Jane and I are not a thing,” Carlos told the toddler deciding it was pointless to keep avoiding the question as Mal was a very stubborn toddler and when she wanted something she would get it.

Carlos thought it was annoying and frustrating, but at the same time he found it cute and it made her who she was. Carlos loved his baby sister even if she could be annoying sometimes. The small girl giggled as she looked at Ava. “He sa no!” Mal told Ava making her laugh and nod as she figured he would say that.

Ava would not let Carlos win the conversation though as she remembered the other reason she wanted to call Carlos. She still wasn’t done being mad at him for his grades. Ava just looked at the toddler. “Okay well can you tell him that I just checked his grades,” Ava told the toddler making her giggle. 

“Mama sa se eck you gwa! You in twabow!” The small two year old screamed out over the phone making Carlos freeze up as he knew he was so screwed now. Carlos smiled though when he remembered something he was talking to a toddler.

“Uh oh! Okay Mal listen carefully do not give that phone to Ava,” Carlos told his baby sister hoping that she would listen to him. “Otay!” Mal screamed out making Carlos sigh in relief until he heard the toddler hand the phone over to someone as he just knew Mal did it anyway.

“Hey Mal gave me the phone,” Ava told Carlos, making him groan as he knew he was so screwed now. “What I told her not to!” Carlos screamed out as he was starting to feel betrayed by the tiny girl. He had sacrificed two years of his life to take care of her and now she rats him out to Ava. 

Ava just smirked as she watched the toddler. “And I told her to!” Ava told Carlos enjoying the fact that Mal finally preferred her over Carlos as Carlos had been bragging about how much Mal preferred him and now she finally had pay back.

Carlos just groaned as he was getting sick of Mal always taking Ava’s side. “Ugh why does she always listen to you!” Carlos screamed out in frustration making Ava laugh as she hugged the toddler. “Because she’s practically my mini me now! Isn’t that right Mal!” Ava screamed out as she tickled the toddler, making her giggle.

Carlos just groaned again as he was starting to get jealous. “Ugh! She was mine first! I raised her for two years!” Carlos screamed out making Ava laugh again as she watched the toddler twirl around. 

“Yeah well I’m gonna make up for it by raising her for the next 16. Now stop changing the subject all the time!” Ava told Carlos as she still felt bad about what she had done and she hates that Carlos can’t just let it go when she already was making up for it. 

“I’m not! I was just making an observation!” Carlos told Ava as he could he was making her upset which was not a good thing when trying to convince her to not pull him out of Auradon Prep. Ava just rolled her eyes as she knew what Carlos was doing. 

“Yeah well either way. You’re still breaking our rules!” Ava screamed out making Carlos sigh as he knew he would need to think fast.

“Okay but come on it’s one class!” Carlos whined out as he had been doing well in all his other classes and didn’t think it was fair for Ava to do this to him. “It doesn’t matter!” Ava screamed out as she was getting sick of Carlos acting like she had no authority.

She was in charge, not him. Carlos just sighed as he knew he was making it worse. “Can we at least talk about this!” Carlos asked his sister hoping that he could still convince her to not pull him from his school. 

Ava just sighed when she looked at the time as she realized how late it was and she didn’t want to keep arguing with Carlos anymore. “I’ll think about it! Now go to bed because you have school in the morning!” Ava told Carlos making him sigh in relief as it wasn’t a no.

“Okay night Ava please don’t pull me out of Auradon Prep!” Carlos begged out one more time making Ava groan as she knew he wouldn’t drop it and she was too tired to make that decision. 

“I told you I have to think about it! Night and don’t fail another test!” Ava screamed out making Carlos happy as he knew that was Ava’s way of saying she won’t pull him. 

“Okay I won’t! Night Ava! Night pup!” Carlos screamed out making Ava laugh and so did the toddler. “Nigh Nigh! Bi Dowy!” The small girl screamed out making Ava and Carlos laugh as they both ended the call. 

Ava then turned her attention back to the toddler as she laughed. “He’s definitely gonna fail another test! What do you think Mal,” Ava playfully asked the toddler, making her giggle and nod. “Ya!” The small girl screamed out making Ava laugh again at the adorable toddler.

“Alright come on cutie it’s bedtime!” Ava told the toddler making the small girl shake her head no as she went running making Ava sigh as she loved Mal, but she also loved sleep. “The things I do as a big sister! Mal! Come back here!” Ava screamed out as she went running after the toddler.

Ava sighed when the small girl stopped running and hiding when she cried out making Ava run over to her. “Mal what’s wrong!” Ava screamed out in panic making the small girl cry as she saw the blood that was coming out from her nose.

“Bweed!” The small girl screamed out making Ava nod as she realized Mal had another nose bleed as the toddler had been starting to get them. Ava wasn’t too worried about them though because she figured it was normal. 

Plenty of kids get nose bleeds and are fine. Ava just sighed as she grabbed a napkin and applied it to the toddler’s nose to stop the bleeding. “Aw it's okay Mal it’s just another nose bleed. It’s fine. Come on let’s get you into some clean clothes and then we can get you into bed,” Ava told the toddler in her calm voice as she didn’t want to scare the already scared toddler.

Mal just nodded as she allowed Ava to change her into some clean clothes, but as soon as Ava placed her down afterwards the small girl giggled as she ran off again not wanting to go to bed. 

Ava just groaned again. “Mal! Come on!” Ava screamed out as she went chasing after the toddler again. 

  
  



	4. The Start Of Drama

“Ugh come on Mal! It’s late!” Ava screamed out when the toddler was refusing to go to bed. The small girl just giggled as she looked at Ava. “No!” The small girl cried out making Ava sigh as she was exhausted.

“Mal please! I have a huge project that I have to work on tomorrow!” Ava told the toddler who still was refusing to sleep. “No!” The young girl screamed out again making Ava sigh as she was desperate now.

“What if I get you a new toy tomorrow after classes?” Ava asked the toddler hoping that would work as it worked last time. Mal just looked Ava as she debated it, but decided she didn’t want that as she wanted her bottle back. 

“No!” The small girl screamed out making Ava groan as Mal always took the toy bribe, but wasn’t now. “Did you just turn down a toy!” Ava asked the girl in shock, making her nod. “I wan baba!” The small two year old cried out as she wasn’t feeling that well and wanted her comfort item.

Ava just sighed as she had just managed to get Mal completely off the bottle and now she was crying and asking for it back. “You want your bottle back!” Ava asked the toddler in shock making the small girl nod again.

“Ya! Baba!” The small girl cried out making Ava groan. “Mal we just got you off the bottle! Remember you said you liked your sippy cup!” Ava told the toddler not wanting to go backwards with Mal’s progress. 

It didn’t work though as Mal just wanted her bottle back. “Baba!” The young two year old cried out again making Ava sigh again as she didn’t want to give in. “Mal please!” Ava begged out, but the toddler just continued to cry.

“Baba! Baba! Baba!” Mal cried out as she wanted her bottle to soothe her as she wasn’t feeling that good. Ava just groaned as she saw the time and knew this conversation wasn’t going anywhere. 

“You know what fine I don’t care anymore!” Ava screamed out as she went to where she was keeping Mal’s bottles as she pulled one out immediately causing the two year old to stop crying. 

“Yay! Baba!” The small girl cried out making Ava sigh as she took the bottle and filled it up with strawberry milk. “Here but when you get older and still drink out of a bottle and people wonder why you still use a bottle that’s on you,” Ava told the toddler somewhat jokingly as she handed her the baby bottle.

Mal just smiled as she grabbed the bottle and started to drink from it. “Yay! Baba! Mama?” The small girl cried out making Ava groan again as she just wanted to sleep. “Yeah Mal,” Ava asked the toddler, not really paying much attention to what she was saying. 

“Cawos in twabow?” The small girl asked Ava making her laugh as she picked up the toddler and placed her in her crib. “Yes he is,” Ava playfully told the toddler back, making her laugh. “Why,” the small girl asked her big sister, making Ava sigh. 

“Because Carlos is too distracted by his crush and keeps failing all his tests and quizzes in school,” Ava told the toddler who nodded still not understanding. “Oh! Mama!” The small girl screamed out again making Ava groan again as she just wanted to sleep.

“Yeah Mal,” Ava asked the toddler, making the small girl look at her. “Id it Ane?” The small girl asked Ava innocently, making Ava laugh. “Is it Jane?” Ava playfully asked the toddler playing along with her.

“Ya! Id it!” Mal asked Ava making her laugh again as she kissed Mal on the forehead. “What do you think,” Ava playfully asked the toddler, making her giggle again. “Ya!” the small girl told Ava, making her laugh again. 

“You think Carlos has a crush on Jane?” Ava asked the toddler again making Mal nod. Ava just laughed yet again as she found it adorable how Mal was so invested like she was. 

“Yeah Mal it is Jane. Now come on it’s bedtime,” Ava told the toddler as she laid Mal down in her crib after Mal had been standing up in the crib. “Weawy,” the small girl asked Ava, making her laugh again.

“Yeah now please go to sleep Mal. We can talk more about this in the morning okay,” Ava told the toddler who shook her head no. “I no sweepy!” The small girl cried out making Ava groan.

“You’re not sleepy,” Ava asked the toddler who nodded. “No!” the small girl screamed out, making Ava sigh. “Okay then I guess I’ll just take the bottle away because I said you could have it back if you went to sleep,” Ava told the toddler knowing that would work.

Ava smiled in victory when the toddler’s eyes widened as she immediately laid back down in her crib and fell asleep. “That’s what I thought!” Ava said out loud enjoying her victory as she went to her own bed and fell asleep. 

Ava groaned when around 2 AM the small toddler was up again. “Mama!” The small girl cried out making Ava groan as it was too early to be dealing with the toddler. “Coming Mal!” Ava screamed out as she forced herself out of bed and made her way to Mal’s crib.

As soon as the small girl saw her Mal reached out for Ava as she wanted Ava to hold her again. “Mama! Upie!” The small girl cried out making Ava sigh as she gave in and picked up the toddler.

As soon as Ava picked her up Mal laid her head on Ava’s chest and fell right back to sleep making Ava a bit worried as Mal wasn’t the kind of kid to just asleep that easily and 2 AM was usually her wide awake and energetic time.

The fact that she was sleeping now was a little worrisome. She wasn’t too worried, but it was still enough to keep her up all night watching the toddler to keep an eye on her. She eventually did end up passing out, but was woken up immediately when Carlos came in.

“Hey Ava!” Carlos screamed out loudly deciding to get a little payback on her causing Ava to jump up as she had been sleeping and it made the toddler cry as she was still tired and Carlos had woken her up.

Carlos just laughed as he was enjoying this. “Hey sis!” Carlos told Ava playfully as it was finally his turn to mess with Ava. Ava just groaned as she tried to calm the screaming toddler. 

“Carlos! What are you doing here! You have school!” Ava screamed out in frustration as she was irritated from her lack of sleep. Carlos just smirked as he sat down at his desk that he set up. “We’re back online again!” Carlos told Ava, making her sigh.

“Why,” Ava asked Carlos who just shrugged. “I don’t know but we are! Why are you sleeping on the floor?” Carlos asked Ava as he had come back to find both Mal and Ava asleep on the floor.

“Mal wasn’t feeling the best last night, so I was a little worried. I guess I must have just fallen asleep,” Ava told Carlos who nodded. “Okay well moving on! I forgot to tell you!” Carlos told Ava making her get worried.

“What!” Ava screamed out in fear making Carlos laugh. “Jane and I are official now!” Carlos screamed out excitedly making Ava’s eyes widen in shock. “Wait what! When did this happen!” Ava asked Carlos in shock making him laugh as he was enjoying this.

“Yesturday!” Carlos told Ava and laughed when Ava gave him a confused look. “But we were talking to you yesterday and you kept saying no!” Ava screamed out making Carlos laugh.

“Yeah I just didn’t want you to know because you would freak out and stuff!” Carlos told Ava making her get upset, “Well yeah of course! My baby brother has his first girlfriend! And I can’t believe you lied to me about it!” Ava screamed out making Carlos laugh again as he set up his laptop.

“It’s not that big of a deal!” Carlos told Ava who rolled her eyes. “Yes it is!” Ava screamed out making Carlos sigh as he knew what Ava was gonna end up doing now. “Please don’t embarrass me!” Carlos begged out making Ava laugh as she ruffled his hair again.

“No promises!” Ava screamed out making Carlos groan. “You are ridiculous!” Carlos screamed out making Ava laugh again as she looked at Carlos. “Again it’s called being a big sister! It’s my job!” Ava told Carlos, making him roll his eyes as he pointed to the toddler that was sleeping again.

“Isn’t your job to raise Mal and be a fashion designer!” Carlos askes Ava in annoyance, making her laugh as she ruffled his hair again. “Yeah but it’s also to embarrass my little brother,” Ava told Carlos, making him groan as he pushed Ava’s hand away.

“Ugh! Will you stop that!” Carlos screamed out in frustration as he hated how Ava treated him like some baby. Ava just laughed again. “Sorry little bro it’s just the rules I don’t make them!” Ava told Carlos, making him roll his eyes again.

“Okay whatever! Don’t you have classes!” Carlos screamed out making Ava laugh as she picked up the toddler after changing her. “Yeah I’m leaving now! Alright see ya! And don’t slack off, remember I can check grades!” Ava told Carlos who just groaned again. 

“Okay Ava! Got it! I’m not Mal!” Carlos screamed out making Ava sigh. “Alright whatever!” Ava told Carlos as she left making him sigh in relief as he turned on his laptop and signed in. He smiled when he saw Jane.

“Hey girlfriend,” Carlos told Jane, making her smile and blush. “Hey boyfriend!” Jane told Carlos back, making them both laugh and blush. “I’m so glad you’re my girlfriend now!” Carlos told Jane excitedly, making her smile.

“And I’m so glad you’re my boyfriend now! Oh we gotta log into class!” Jane screamed out when she checked the time making Carlos laugh as they both disconnected their call and joined their class.

The two of them ended up not paying attention to class though as they were too invested in each other to pay attention causing them to fail another test. A few hours later Carlos continued to do school like normal, but was interrupted when Ava and Mal got back as the small toddler went up to him.

“You in twabow aben!” The small two year old told her brother as she sat down on the floor and started watching Dragon Tales on her tablet again. Carlos just quickly looked up and froze when he saw Ava holding up his grades and looking angry.

“Uh oh!” Carlos whispered to himself making Ava glare at him. “Yeah I made up my mind! I’m pulling you!” Ava screamed out making Carlos start panicking as he didn’t want to get pulled. 

“Ava come on! Please don’t do this!” Carlos begged out, but Ava wasn’t having it. “ You have failed every test and quiz in that class!” Ava screamed out in anger making Carlos get angry too as he became defensive.

“It’s a hard class!” Carlos screamed out making Ava roll her eyes. “You’re not even trying! All you do is stare at Jane all class!” Ava screamed out catching Carlos off guard. “What how did... I mean... I don’t do that!” Carlos managed to get out, but Ava still wasn’t having it.

“Nice try I wasn’t born yesterday! You are getting pulled!” Ava screamed out causing Carlos to start panicking again. “Is there any other way!” Carlos screamed out as he was desperate. 

“Yeah you do classes from home permanently and you get pulled from Jane’s class!” Ava screamed out making Carlos get angry. “What! That’s so not fair! You’re not mom!” Carlos screamed out as he was sick of Ava acting like his mom when she wasn’t.

Ava just looked at her brother in shock as she couldn’t believe he would say something like that to her. “Did you really just say that!” Ava screamed out making Carlos get more upset.

“Yeah because it’s true! You keep trying to act like mom! You’re not mom! You’re just my big sister!” Carlos screamed out as he was angry and not thinking clearly. This caused Ava to get even more angry as Carlos had no clue what she was going through to keep them all safe and away from the media.

And she was sacrificing her old life to take care of them. “You’re right I’m not mom! If I was mom I would let you slack off and fail and become nothing in life! And if I was mom I would leave you and Mal for dead! But I’m not mom! And I won’t do that!” Ava screamed out as she was sick of Carlos treating her with no respect.

Carlos just rolled his eyes as he looked Ava in the eyes. “Look who’s talking about leaving! You left! You left for 2 years!” Carlos screamed out making Ava feel hurt and betrayed that he would bring that up again. 

The screaming caused the small two year old to get scared as she started sobbing. “You made Mal cry!” Ava screamed out to Carlos making him roll his eyes. “No you did! And I’m sick of you trying to replace mom! You’re not mom!” Carlos screamed out as he slammed the door and left.

Ava just watched Carlos storm off as she collapsed to the floor and broke down sobbing causing the small toddler who had been watching to toddle over to her as she sat down by her. “Id otay mama! I wob you!” The small two year old told Ava as she curled up on her and fell asleep again.

Ava just smiled a little as she pulled the toddler closer just lucky that she at least had Mal to always be there for her just like she would be with Mal. 

  
  



	5. More Drama

Ava sighed as she continued to just sit on the floor and down drinks with the toddler sitting next to her. “Mama?” The small girl asked Ava after a few hours of just watching Ava drink and cry. 

Ava just sighed as she looked at the small girl. “Yeah Mal?” Ava asked the toddler as she was still upset and didn’t feel like doing anything. She was honestly relieved that Mal wasn’t as hyper and energetic as she normally was.

Ava thought it was a little concerning, but figured Mal was just tired from always staying up so late and it was just her body catching up on sleep. The small girl just looked at Ava. “Why Cawos ma?” The small girl asked Ava who just sighed again as she didn’t like talking about this with the small toddler.

“Because he’s upset that he’s getting in trouble,” Ava quickly told the toddler hoping she would accept that answer and drop it, but it did the opposite as the toddler became more curious. “Why?” Mal asked Ava who sighed again.

“Because he’s failing his classes and because he doesn’t like getting in trouble,” Ava told the toddler who nodded. “Oh otay! Mama!” The small girl screamed out as she remembered another thing she was confused about.

“Yeah Mal,” Ava asked the toddler again as she was starting to get frustrated. “Why Cawos sa you no mama!” The small girl asked Ava who just downed another drink as she looked at the toddler again.

“Because it’s complicated Mal. Just like how I told you it’s complicated with our dad,” Ava told the toddler just wanting her to stop asking those questions. “Oh!” The small girl screamed out as she was about to ask another question, but Ava had enough.

She was already feeling very uncomfortable with the conversation and just wanted it to end already. “Mal let’s change the subject,” Ava told the toddler, making the small girl smile a little bit as she held up her bottle to Ava.

“Otay! Ca I hab sowa!” The small girl asked Ava who just looked at her. “You want soda?” Ava asked the toddler as she was debating whether she should do it or not. Mal just giggled as she held up the bottle again and nodded. “Ya!” The small two year old screamed out making Ava sigh as she gave in.

“Alright!” Ava told the toddler as she picked up the bottle from Mal and filled it up with soda as she handed it back to the small girl. “Yay!” The small two year old screamed out excitedly as she took the baby bottle and started drinking it. 

Ava just sighed as she filled up her red solo cup with more alcohol and began to drink some more. She stopped though when she looked at the time as she realized it was dinner time. 

“Mal come on let’s go! It’s dinner time,” Ava told the toddler who just shook her head no as her stomach was starting to hurt and she didn’t want to eat anything. “No!” The small girl screamed out making Ava roll her eyes as she picked up the toddler.

“We have to now come on, we're just going to the Student Union really quickly,” Ava told the toddler who stopped crying as she laid her head down on Ava again while sucking on her bottle. 

Ava sighed as she had made the mistake of putting Mal down and the toddler began to walk ahead of her once they reached the Student Union. “Mal please stay with me!” Ava screamed out while the toddler continued to run ahead. 

“No wanna!” The small girl screamed out as she kept running ahead. Ava just groaned as she kept trying to catch up to the toddler. “Mal come on please stop running ahead!” Ava screamed out making the small girl giggle as she kept running ahead.

Not watching where she was going as she accidentally ran into Caitlin causing her to fall down as she immediately started screaming in pain as she immediately started getting some new bruises. 

Caitlin just gasped as she picked up the crying toddler and tried to calm her down. “Hey it’s okay cutie. Where’s your big sister?” Caitlin asked the toddler who just calmed down and smiled when she looked at Caitlin.

“See obew dew!” The small girl screamed out as she pointed to Ava making Caitlin laugh as she saw Ava walk over. “Hey!” Caitlin called out to Ava making her sigh in relief as she picked up the toddler from Caitlin.

“Oh thank god! She was with you!” Ava told Caitlin, making her nod. “Yeah she ran into me. Are you okay? You look horrible,” Caitlin told Ava when she got a good look at her friend and could see she had been crying and she looked like she had been drinking again.

Ava just rolled her eyes as she looked at Caitlin. “Yeah thanks for that! That’s totally what I wanted to hear!” Ava told Caitlin with an attitude making Caitlin sigh as she knew she had offended Ava again when she wasn’t trying to. 

“Ava I’m not trying to say it in a bad way. I’m concerned. You look exhausted and you look like you’ve been crying and drinking again!” Caitlin told her friend in concern making Ava roll her eyes. “Yeah so what!” Ava screamed out as she was sick of Caitlin always trying to tell her what to do.

“So what! Ava it’s not healthy! And okay seriously what is she drinking?” Caitlin screamed out when she got a look at the baby bottle that the toddler was peacefully drinking from. “It’s soda,” Ava told Caitlin who looked at Ava in shock and disbelief at what she had just heard.

“You gave a 2 year old soda!” Caitlin screamed out as she couldn’t believe how irresponsible Ava was being. Ava just rolled her eyes as she was sick of Caitlin acting like she knew everything. 

“Gosh now you sound like Zoe! My business is my business!” Ava screamed out making Caitlin get upset as she was trying to help Ava and Mal.”Ava it’s not okay! A two year old should not be drinking soda! Heck they shouldn’t even really be drinking juice either unless it’s watered down,” Caitlin screamed out making Ava roll her eyes again.

“And you should mind your own business. I’m sick of getting ridiculed all the time! I can’t win! I try to be responsible and my little brother yells at me and leaves! I do the opposite and I get yelled at and judged! I just can’t win!” Ava screamed out as she was frustrated and sick of it all. Nothing she ever did was good enough.

Caitlin just rolled her eyes as she was sick of Ava trying to play the victim all the time. “Ava drinking in front of a toddler is not okay and it’s not okay to give her soda! Come on you can stay at my place tonight. You are way too drunk to be alone especially with a toddler,” Caitlin told Ava in a serious voice making Ava roll her eyes again.

“I’m fine! And I don’t need you to babysit me! I’m an adult! And Mal is fine! How many times do I have to tell you I know what I’m doing!” Ava screamed out making Caitlin laugh sarcastically as she couldn’t believe Ava was saying that when it was obvious that it wasn’t true.

“Ava you clearly don’t!” Caitlin screamed out making Ava get more upset. “Just leave me alone! We’re not even friends!” Ava screamed out as she tried to push past Caitlin, but Caitlin pulled her back.

“Ava I thought we made progress!” Caitlin told Ava who rolled her eyes as she tried to push past her again. “We did until you decided to tell me how to live my life and judged me on how to parent! You don’t have kids, so stop telling me how to parent!” Ava screamed out making Caitlin sigh again as she just wanted to help her friend. 

“I know that, but Ava I’m concerned! I care about you and your sister! I really don’t think it’s safe for you to be alone like this with her! Do I have to remind you what happened last time!” Caitlin told Ava reminding her of when she had gotten too drunk and lost the toddler.

“That was different!” Ava screamed out as she couldn’t believe Caitlin had the audacity to bring up that incident again. “How!” Caitlin screamed out making Ava get mad again. 

“Because she got out when I was gone! And Carlos was supposed to be watching her!” Ava screamed out as she knew Caitlin was judging her when it wasn’t even her fault it was Carlos’s.

“What happens if you crash from drinking too much and she decides to get out again!” Caitlin screamed out not wanting to give up. She would never forgive herself if she let Ava go home like that with the toddler and something happened. 

“She knows not to!” Ava screamed out trying to convince Caitlin that she didn’t need her help, but Caitlin still wasn’t giving in either. “Ava she’s 2! Two year olds love to explore!” Caitlin screamed out making Ava get upset as Caitlin just wouldn’t give up.

“I don’t need your help!” Ava screamed out in frustration making Caitlin lose it as Ava wasn’t giving up, but she just had a bad feeling about this. “Ava please! Just this once listen to someone who wants to help you!” Caitlin begged out as she was desperate. 

Ava just sighed as she looked at the terrified toddler that was laying her head down on her shoulder and sucking on her bottle with tears flowing down her face as she didn’t like all the screaming. 

“Alright fine! But just this once!” Ava screamed out finally giving in as she couldn’t take it anymore. Caitlin just sighed in relief as she looked at her friend. “Okay and I promise it’s just this once!” Caitlin told Ava who just rolled her eyes as she didn’t want to do this but Caitlin wouldn’t stop.

“Okay fine so lead the way it’s your house,” Ava told Caitlin in frustration and annoyance, making Caitlin nod as she led Ava and Mal who was sleeping on Ava again to the car, so they could go to her house. 

  
  



	6. The Night That Started It All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: This is it the start of the main storyline. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you thought. 

“Okay so you can stay in the guest room tonight,” Caitlin told Ava once they made it to her house and got inside. Ava just rolled her eyes as she didn’t even want to be there.

“And where is Mal supposed to sleep? She still sleeps in a crib because she’s small for her age,” Ava told Caitlin as she still hated that Caitlin had basically forced her to come to her house, so she could watch her like a little kid. 

Caitlin just smiled though as she remembered something as she looked at Ava. “Oh I still have my old play pen here from when I was baby. I can go get it!” Caitlin told Ava as she ran off to get the playpen and then set it up in her room making Ava look at her like she was crazy.

“Okay explain to me why Mal’s play pen is in your room!” Ava screamed out as she couldn’t believe how Caitlin was acting right now. Caitlin just sighed as she looked at Ava. “Because it’s safer that way!” Caitlin told Ava who just got upset.

“No! She’s my sister! She’s staying in my room!” Ava screamed out as she didn’t like the way her friend was treating her.

“Ava I think it would be better if she stayed in my room tonight. What happens if there is an emergency!” Caitlin told Ava as she didn’t feel right with the situation. This just caused Ava to get more upset as Mal was her sister yet Caitlin was acting as though she wasn’t.

“I am not that drunk!” Ava screamed out making Caitlin roll her eyes as she looked at her friend who was having trouble keeping up right. “Ava you can barely stand!” Caitlin screamed out as she took the toddler from Ava making Ava roll her eyes again.

“I’m not that drunk!” Ava screamed out again making Caitlin sigh as she bounced the toddler a little. “Ava seriously I am concerned!” Caitlin told Ava making Ava get upset. “She is my sister! Not yours!” Ava screamed out as Mal was her sister yet Caitlin was acting like she had no authority. 

“I understand that, but Ava I am trying to help!” Caitlin told her friend as she didn’t like arguing with her, but Ava was drunk and she didn’t think Ava was in the right mindset to look after herself let alone a toddler at this point. 

“You know what fine! She can stay in your room!” Ava screamed out as she gave up and slammed the door to the guest room she would be staying in. Caitlin then sighed as she looked down at the toddler that was now crying.

“Hey there Mal,” Caitlin told the toddler gently trying to calm her down, but it didn’t work as the small girl wanted Ava. “I wan Mama!” The small toddler screamed out making Caitlin sigh as she looked at the toddler.

“I know sweetie, but your mama isn’t feeling well okay. Come on let’s go to my room. I can read you a story!” Caitlin told the toddler trying to calm her down again. Caitlin sighed in relief when it seemed to work as the toddler stopped crying.

“Otay!” Mal screamed out, making Caitlin laugh as she carried Mal to the playpen and then placed her inside. “Okay now we only have educational books, but I think I might have a children’s book here somewhere,” Caitlin told the small girl making her laugh as she pointed to the diaper bag. 

“Dew!” The small girl screamed out making Caitlin nod as she went to the bag and pulled out Mal’s favorite book as she held it up. “You want me to read this,” Caitlin asked the toddler who smiled and nodded excitedly. “Ya!” The small girl screamed out happily. 

Caitlin just laughed as she sat down by the toddler and began to read to her until she fell asleep which was pretty quick as the small girl had been really tired lately.

Caitlin laughed when she saw the toddler had fallen asleep so easily as she placed the book down and got into her bed to sleep. “Well that was easy,” Caitlin said out loud as she closed her eyes and drifted off. 

Caitlin was immediately woken up a few hours later when the small two year old had woken up crying as she began to have trouble breathing. Caitlin began to panic as she quickly jumped out of bed and ran to the toddler who was making weird noises and gasping.

“Mal! Hey it’s going to be okay! AVA!” Caitlin screamed out hysterically as she held the screaming toddler that was coughing uncontrollably and sobbing. Ava quickly got up as she ran over to where Caitlin was screaming. 

“MAL! WHAT’S WRONG WITH HER!” Ava screamed out hysterically as she ran over to the toddler and quickly picked her up. “I don’t know! I just woke up and she was like that!” Caitlin screamed out as she grabbed her phone and started calling 911.

Ava just held the toddler close to her while she sobbed. “Mal it’s going to be okay. Stay with me okay. Please Mal I can’t lose you!“ Ava cried out as she held the toddler close to her.

Ava began to completely panic when she took Mal’s temperature and saw that it was above 104 and she was burning up. “Mal it’s going to be okay,” Ava told the toddler again as she was trying to calm herself down despite her freaking out inside. 

Ava lost it though when the small two year old’s nose started bleeding a lot and she started coughing up blood. “DID YOU CALL THEM!” Ava screamed out hysterically as Caitlin told her she would call 911. Caitlin just nodded as she was still panicking. 

“Yes they said they’re on their way!” Caitlin told Ava who just nodded as she continued to try and help the toddler. “Can’t they get here any faster!” Ava screamed out hysterically making Caitlin panic more as well.

“Come on Mal it’s going to be okay,” Ava kept telling the toddler as she was still trying to convince herself while the small girl just continued to cry, struggle breathing, and cough.

Finally after a few more minutes an ambulance showed up and the small girl was immediately loaded into the ambulance. “Let me go with her!” Ava screamed out with she was still sobbing, making the paramedic look at her.

“Are you her mom,” the paramedic asked Ava who shook her head no. “No but I’m her sister and I’m the one raising her! Please she needs me! She’s only 2!” Ava sobbed out making the paramedic nod as he allowed Ava to get into the ambulance with the toddler.

Ava just completely broke down sobbing as she looked at the super tiny and very sickly looking toddler on the stretcher as she couldn’t believe this was happening. 

A few hours ago the small girl was smiling and laughing and now here she was on a stretcher with a bunch of wires and a breathing mask on and barely even conscious. 

As soon as they got to the hospital the small toddler was immediately rushed to the back in which Ava wasn’t allowed to follow after her. Ava just collapsed on the floor in the waiting room as she just continued to sob. Caitlin arrived as well as she quickly ran over to Ava and hugged onto her just letting Ava sob on her. 

  
  



	7. Tears In The Waiting Room

Ava began to pace around in the waiting room as it had been hours since Mal had been rushed back there and they still had given her no information making her feel so nervous and freaked out.

“Why haven’t they told me anything! It’s been hours!” Ava screamed out as she was starting to lose it. Nobody was telling her what was wrong with her sister and she couldn’t take it anymore. Caitlin just sighed as she was terrified about the small girl as well, but didn’t want to freak her friend out more.

It was her job as Ava’s friend to be there for moral support and to make her feel better not more freaked out. “Ava she’s gonna be fine,” Caitlin tried to tell Ava who just collapsed to the floor and started sobbing again. 

“YOU DON’T KNOW THAT! I can... I can’t....I can’t lose... lose... her! She’s all I have left! And I love her so much!” Ava sobbed out hysterically as she had probably just lost any connection that she had with her brother after their fight and Mal really was all she had left.

Caitlin just sighed as she pulled Ava close to her just letting her cry on her again. “I know Ava come here! I know this is hard, but you don’t have to do this alone,” Caitlin told Ava, trying to show her that she wasn’t alone, making Ava start crying more as she was feeling guilty again.

Caitlin and Dylan were always very supportive, but she just kept pushing them away. She didn’t really understand why she did it, but she was pretty sure it was due to the fact that she was afraid of getting close to people and then losing them again as that always happened with her.

Ava just looked at Caitlin. “I don’t get it why do you care so much about me! I mean all I’ve ever done is yell at you and Dylan,” Ava told Caitlin who just nodded sadly as she knew Ava was right, but she also knew that Ava was just hurting and she had been through a lot.

“Yeah but you’re still our friend and we care about you and your family. And Ava, Mal is gonna be fine,” Caitlin told Ava who just started crying even more as she started thinking about the small girl and how much she loved her.

Ava couldn’t handle it if she lost her. “But what if she’s not! She’s practically a baby still! She’s so little!” Ava sobbed out again making Caitlin just nod as she just held Ava again and let her cry all over her not caring about the tear stains Ava was sure to leave. 

A few minutes later Dylan came running in as Caitlin had called him and told him what happened, making him drop everything as he rushed to the hospital to be there for Ava and Mal.

“Ava how is she! Caitlin called me and said Mal was in the hospital!” Dylan told Ava in panic making her just nod as tears continued to fall down her face. “Yeah and they won’t tell us anything!” Ava screamed out as she just wanted to know if her sister would be okay or not.

Dylan just sighed as he sat down by Ava and Caitlin and hugged Ava. “She’s gonna be fine. We just have to be optimistic!” Dylan told Ava who just started crying more. “That’s hard to do!” Ava screamed out as she was starting to lose hope.

Ava was never really an optimist and this whole situation was just making it worse. A few more minutes later Alison came running over as she too had been informed about the small girl and had quickly rushed over as well. 

Alison knew how scary it was to have a child in the hospital as she was a mom herself and had a few scares when it came to her girls. It was never anything serious, but it was still a scary feeling to have a child in the hospital and she just knew Ava really needed support right now. 

Not only that, but Alison had bonded with the small girl as Mal was basically glued to Ava’s side as she never went anywhere without her. And Mal had even had playdates with her daughters whenever Emily would visit with the girls. 

Lily and Grace loved Mal and they even referred to her as their bestfriend. To learn that something could happen to the innocent little girl that not only she had bonded with, but her daughters had too was just terrifying and heart breaking.

Alison just hugged Ava close to her, making Ava hug her back as she broke down sobbing again as she really wished she wasn’t having to go through this and especially all by herself.

“I heard what happened! Is she okay!” Alison asked Ava who just started sobbing harder. “They won’t tell me anything! I’m so scared,” Ava cried out as she was just getting more and more terrified as more and more time kept passing with still no information.

Alison just nodded as she knew this was hard and just wanted to help Ava. “Hey it’s gonna be alright. From one mother to another,” Alison began to say, but Ava just completely lost it after that as she didn’t deserve that title. 

“That’s just it! I’m not a mom! Carlos is right! I’m just not meant to be a mom!” Ava screamed out hysterically as she was blaming herself. It was her fault for ignoring everything. She just pushed away warning signs acting as though they were normal.

It was her fault. Alison just sighed as she looked at the broken girl. “Ava that’s not true,” Alison began to say again, but Ava just lost it again as Alison just didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but she knew in her heart that it was her fault.

“YES IT IS! Mal is here because I couldn’t tell that something was wrong! YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE!” Ava screamed out as she refused to believe that it wasn’t her fault. Alison just sighed again as she held Ava closer to her.

“Ava it’s not true! Trust me as someone with kids making mistakes is part of being a parent,” Alison told Ava trying to help her see that it wasn’t her fault and she should stop blaming herself. It wasn’t Ava’s fault and she knew that, but she knew Ava wouldn’t stop thinking that it was.

Ava just nodded as she started crying more. “I just want her to be okay! You’re right she is my baby! I can’t lose her!” Ava screamed out as Mal was her baby now. Mal wasn’t just her little sister Mal was her daughter.

She loved Mal so much and she couldn’t handle losing her. They continued to just sit in the waiting room all just staying silent as they didn’t know what to say. About twenty minutes later the doctor finally came out causing Ava to quickly run over in panic. 

“Are you the family of Mal Jalali,” the doctor asked Ava who just quickly nodded. “Yes that’s me! I’m the one raising her! What’s wrong with her!” Ava screamed out in panic making the doctor sigh as she looked over at Ava. 

“Come with me, so we can talk in private,” the doctor told Ava, making her quickly fill with fear as that was never a good sign when a doctor wanted to speak in private. Ava just nodded as she quickly followed the doctor already dreading what was coming. 

  
  



	8. What's Wrong With Mal?

Ava just looked at the doctor in fear as she was starting to become very concerned. “What’s going on! You’re scaring me!” 

Ava told the doctor, making her sigh as she looked at Ava. “Well we don’t know for sure yet, but she is showing some pretty concerning symptoms,” the doctor told Ava in her serious voice making Ava fill with more fear. 

“Concerning symptoms for what!” Ava screamed out as the doctor was barely giving her any information which was scaring her more. “I was getting to that, but first I have a serious question,” the doctor told Ava, making her almost lose it.

“What is it! You’re seriously freaking me out!” Ava screamed out as the doctor seemed to be stalling. The doctor just sighed as she looked at Ava. “Has she ever been exposed to anyone that smokes?” The doctor asked Ava catching Ava off guard as she wasn’t expecting that question.

As far as she knew that answer should have been no. “Not that I know of!” Ava told the doctor who just nodded as she looked Ava. “ I see well she is showing signs of otherwise. And according to her medical charts from before that we had transferred over as well,” the doctor told Ava making her feel even more guilty as she had no clue that was happening.

“So you’re saying someone was smoking around her!” Ava screamed out as she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had trusted her cousin to watch Mal and Carlos and he ended up exposing her to second hand smoke.

The doctor just sighed as she nodded. “That is correct,” the doctor told Ava just confirming another thing that Ava was probably the cause of making her get more worried as she looked at the doctor. 

“Well what does that mean for her!” Ava quickly asked the doctor in panic as she remembered learning about how dangerous smoking can be not just for the smoker, but also those are them and especially a developing baby.

The doctor just sighed as she looked at Ava again. “Well her lungs are very weak due to being exposed to secondhand smoke. And I really hate having to say this, however that is not the only thing we are concerned about,” the doctor told Ava, making her heart almost stop as this was becoming too much.

“What do you mean! What else are you concerned about!” Ava screamed out in panic making the doctor sigh yet again as she hated delivering bad news especially when the patient was so young.

“We noticed that she is pretty underweight for her age and we can’t seem to get her to eat. I hate bringing this up however if we can’t get her to eat anything soon we will have to insert a feeding tube,” the doctor told Ava making her look at the doctor in shock and disbelief as she couldn’t believe she was hearing that.

“Are you serious!” Ava screamed out making the doctor sigh again. “Unfortunately that is the case. She can die if she doesn’t start eating soon,” the doctor told Ava who just nodded still trying to process everything.

“Can I see her!” Ava asked the doctor after a few seconds of letting her brain try to process it all. The doctor just nodded as she led Ava to Mal’s hospital room. 

When Ava got there she found the small toddler hooked up to so many IVs and wires and an oxygen tube while happily watching Dragon Tales without a care in the world. Ava just took a deep breath as she tried not to cry seeing the toddler hooked up to so many medical tubes and wires. She then put on a fake smile as she walked over to the toddler.

“Hey there Mal,” Ava told the toddler, trying to act like everything was fine and normal, not wanting to freak out the innocent two year old. Mal just smiled as she looked up from her show to see Ava. 

“Mama!” The small girl screamed out excitedly making Ava laugh a little as she sat down by the toddler. “Hey Mal. So um I heard you won’t eat,” Ava told the toddler hoping that this was just Mal being stubborn and she could get her to eat.

“Yeah! I no wanna!” The young two year old told Ava as it hurt to eat and her stomach felt full. Ava just sighed as she figured Mal was just being stubborn as she didn’t realize why Mal was refusing to eat.

“You don’t wanna?” Ava asked the toddler, making her nod her head. “Why not!” Ava practically screamed out as she was growing desperate at this point. The small girl just looked at Ava as she held her tummy.

“Id ma my tummy huw!” Mal told Ava as she couldn’t handle eating anything and didn’t want to make her tummy hurt more. Ava quickly started to become concerned by that, but she still needed Mal to eat.

“It makes your tummy hurt to eat?” Ava asked the toddler in concern making her nod her head again. “Yeah!” The young girl screamed out making Ava take another deep breath. 

“Mal you have to eat though!” Ava told the toddler as she was growing even more desperate. Mal just shook her head no as she pushed the food away. “No wanna!” The small two year old screamed out making Ava groan again.

“Mal you have to!” Ava screamed out yet again making the toddler shake her head no again. “No wike id!” Mal screamed out making Ava almost lose it, but she managed to control herself.

“What if I got you some strawberries?” Ava asked the toddler as she remembered how much Mal loved strawberries as they were her favorite food. Mal just shook her head no again as she pushed the strawberries away making Ava more concerned as Mal never pushed strawberries away.

“Mal you love strawberries! Why don’t you want them!” Ava screamed out. “No wanna!” The toddler screamed out back making Ava really grow concerned as she started to lose it.

“Mal I am not playing! You have to eat!” Ava screamed out as she lost all patience. Mal was refusing to eat and she didn’t want to put Mal on a feeding tube. “No!” The toddler screamed out again as she just wasn’t hungry. 

Ava completely lost it after that as she was trying to be patient, but Mal was refusing and she was desperate at this point. “Mal look at me! If you don’t start eating you know what’s gonna happen?” Ava asked the toddler who just shook her head no.

“Wa?” The small girl asked Ava who just looked at her in a very serious way. “They are gonna cut a small hole in your stomach and insert a tube inside of you to make sure you keep eating,” Ava told the toddler hoping to scare her into eating, so that didn’t happen.

The small two year old just looked at Ava in shock and fear as her eyes widened. “No!” Mal screamed out not wanting that to happen. Ava just nodded as she looked at Mal wanting her to understand that she wasn’t kidding.

“Yes Mal! They told me so! If you don’t start eating that’s what is gonna happen! Do you want that!” Ava screamed out, making the toddler start sobbing as she shook her head no making Ava nod as she looked at her.

“Well then you have to eat!” Ava told the toddler who just started crying more as she wanted to eat, but it hurt. “Id huws!” The two year old cried out as she was scared. She didn’t want a feeding tube, but she just couldn’t eat because it made her feel more sick. 

Ava just sighed as she started crying not being able to stop the tears anymore. “Mal please! I don’t want to lose you! Mal just one bite please,” Ava begged out making the toddler shake her head no again.

This action made Ava cry harder which caused the toddler to reach up and wipe Ava’s tears as she gave her a small innocent smile. “Mama no cwy!” The small girl told Ava, making her nod as she looked at the small girl.

Even now when Mal was in the hospital she was concerned about her and her crying not herself. Ava just didn’t get it. 

“Mal I am trying to be strong for you right now, but you have to work with me here! Please I am begging you Mal please just eat!” Ava begged out to the toddler again as she just wanted Mal to eat. 

Mal just shook her head no yet again as she turned her attention back to her show just making Ava sob more as she knew this was bad. She couldn’t get Mal to eat anything, not even strawberries. 

Ava just sighed as she just continued to sob and watch the toddler for hours even after the small girl had fallen asleep. Ava looked up though when she heard something as she saw it was Caitlin.

Caitlin just gave her a small nervous smile. “Hey, is it okay if I came in or are there like rules or something?” Caitlin asked Ava not wanting to cause any problems. Ava just sighed as she looked at her friend.

“It’s fine you can come in. Visitation hours are still open for a little longer and I could use my friend right now!” Ava told Caitlin as she broke down sobbing again and Caitlin quickly ran to her as she hugged her.

“Hey what happened! What did they say is wrong with her,” Caitlin asked her friend in a gentle voice as she could tell from how Ava was acting and how the pale toddler looked it wasn’t good.

Ava just tried to control her breathing as she continued to just hug onto her friend and cry. “She um she apparently has really weak lungs because of my cousin Jay who apparently smoked around her all the time! And she won’t eat!” Ava cried out as she just really needed someone to be there for her.

Caitlin just sadly nodded as she watched Ava pull away from the hug and try to act like she was fine when Caitlin could see right through her. “I’m so sorry Ava! Come here!” Caitlin told Ava as she pulled her close to her again this time giving in.

“They wanna put her on a feeding tube,” Ava cried out again as she broke down sobbing on Caitlin again. Caitlin just gasped as she looked at her friend feeling horrible for her sister. 

“Oh Ava I’m so sorry!” Caitlin told Ava who just nodded as she began to feel guilty again. “It’s my fault!” Ava cried out making Caitlin look at her in shock and disbelief that she would say that.

“How can you say that Ava!” Caitlin practically screamed out making Ava get upset as she couldn’t stop blaming herself.

“Because it’s true! I let her get away with eating just strawberries because I was depressed about Nolan! I knew how unhealthy it was, but I just didn’t care! It’s my fault! I should have made her eat more! I basically neglected her! And this isn’t the first time my reckless parenting almost killed her! I am a horrible parent! CPS should just take her away from me!” Ava screamed out as she felt like a failure at parenting.

She barely even paid attention to the toddler for the first few weeks that Mal had been back because she was selfish and now her sister was in the hospital and probably fighting for her life.

Caitlin just looked at her friend as she couldn't believe she actually felt that way. Yes Ava made mistakes, but she was trying and she took great care of Mal and Carlos. 

“Ava don’t say that! It’s not your fault! It’s your cousin’s fault for smoking around a baby! And Ava you are not a horrible parent! Yes you make mistakes, but like Alison said all parents make mistakes!” Caitlin told Ava trying to help her see that she wasn’t a failure at parenting and that it wasn’t her fault.

Ava just scoffed as she looked at Caitlin. “I almost let her drown! And now I let her not eat! I’m pretty sure that goes way beyond a small little mistake!” Ava screamed out, but before Caitlin could say anything else the small toddler started stirring.

“Mama?” The small toddler sleepily called out making Ava quickly put on a fake smile as she turned her attention back to the toddler. “Yeah Mal,” Ava told the toddler who smiled a little. “I hunwy,” the small toddler told Ava, making her smile.

“You’re hungry!” Ava screamed out excitedly making the toddler nod. “Okay good! Here these are your strawberries from earlier,” Ava practically screamed out as she was excited Mal was asking for food again.

The small toddler just quickly took a strawberry as she began to nibble at it a little bit before getting full and pushing it away again. “No mow,” the toddler screamed out as her stomach felt full again. 

Ava just sighed as she looked at the toddler. “Mal you only had two bites. You have to eat more than that,” Ava told the toddler who shook her head no again. “No id huws! I fuw!” The two year old told Ava as she laid back down and watched Dragon Tales until she fell asleep again.

“See she won’t eat!” Ava screamed out as she looked at her friend. Caitlin just nodded as she got a good look at the toddler and noticed how pale, skinny, and bruised up the small girl looked as she began to get concerned. 

“Do you think it’s more than just not wanting to eat?” Caitlin asked her friend who just looked at her in confusion not understanding what Caitlin was trying to get at. “Like what?” Ava asked Caitlin who took a deep breath.

“Ava please don’t freak out, but I think she’s showing signs of something more than just not wanting to eat and some breathing issues,” Caitlin told Ava who looked at her in confusion again still not getting it.

“Like what!” Ava screamed out again making Caitlin sigh nervously as she didn’t want to tell Ava these things, but she couldn’t help it. “Um... Ava has she been bruising easily?” Caitlin asked her friend, making Ava’s eyes widen as she realized what Caitlin was saying.

“You think she has that!” Ava screamed out, not even able to say the word. Caitlin just sighed as she didn’t like freaking her friend out, but she did want to prepare her friend for the possibility.

“I’m not a doctor Ava, so I don’t know, but she is starting to show some signs,” Caitlin told Ava making her start freaking out as she couldn’t handle it if Mal did have what it was that Caitlin thought she could have.

“Oh my god! No! She can’t have that!” Ava screamed out in panic as she started completely freaking out. “Even if she does we will all be there for both of you,” Caitlin told her friend hoping to calm her down before she had a panic attack.

Ava just shook her head as she looked at her friend. “You don’t get it! I’m basically a single mother and a college student! I can’t afford treatment if it is that!” Ava screamed out as she began to question everything and panic more.

Ava was so screwed if Mal did end up having what Caitlin was talking about. “Ava I’m sure it’s not really that! I’m probably just being paranoid,” Caitlin told Ava as she could see her friend was about to have a mental breakdown.

“But what if she does have it!” Ava screamed out making Caitlin hug her again. “I don’t think she does. I just thought I would mention it,” Caitlin told Ava who just nodded as she started to calm down a little bit.

Just as Ava was starting to calm down the doctor came in as she looked at Caitlin. “Oh and who are you?” The doctor asked Caitlin in confusion, making Ava look at the doctor. “She’s my friend,” Ava told the doctor who just nodded.

“I see well can we talk outside for a little bit,” the doctor told Ava, making her start secretly freaking out again on the inside as she just tried to look calm. “Um... yeah of course!” Ava told the doctor while trying not to freak out.

Once they were out in the hall Ava just looked at the doctor in panic as she had a feeling this was gonna be bad. “What’s going on,” Ava asked the doctor, making the doctor sigh as she looked at her papers. 

“We just got the results of some tests we ran,” the doctor told Ava, making her start panicking as she could tell from the doctor’s expression this was gonna be bad news. 

  
  



	9. Bad News

Ava just sighed as she looked at the doctor already knowing this wasn’t good. “It’s bad isn’t it!” Ava told the doctor as she had pretty much accepted it by now. The doctor just sighed as she looked at Ava. 

“Well we ran some routine blood tests and they didn’t come out so well,” the doctor told Ava making her start freaking out as she realized this was probably more serious than she had thought.

“What are you saying!” Ava asked as she began to start fearing the worst the doctor just sighed again as she looked at Ava yet again. “Her red and white blood cell counts are abnormal,” the doctor told Ava, making her heart almost stop as she realized what the doctor was saying.

“Oh god! Please please please tell me you’re not about to say what I think you’re about to say!” Ava screamed out as the tears started to flow again. The doctor just looked at Ava again with a deathly serious look.

“We would like to do a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy,” the doctor told Ava. Ava froze as the words hit hard like a ton of bricks as she realized what was happening. “A what!” Ava screamed out as this was really hitting her.

The doctor just sighed as she looked at Ava. “A bone marrow,” the doctor began to say, but Ava cut her off not wanting to hear the words again. “I know I’m just... this is just... it’s too much! I can’t... I can’t do this!” Ava screamed out as she took off running out of the hospital and started running back to campus.

Ava groaned when she accidently ran into Zach Fortson. The one guy she couldn’t stand at her school as he hated her guts and made it very clear. Her father had stolen from his father which caused him to blame her when she had nothing to do with it and had told him over and over again that.

“Watch where you’re going Jalali!” Zach told Ava in annoyance making her get upset as she wasn’t in the mood to be fighting back with the boy. “Don’t start with me Fortson! I’m not in the mood!” Ava screamed out as she was still trying to process what just happened with her sister.

Zach just rolled his eyes as he didn’t realize what Ava was going through and thought she was just some selfish and spoiled brat. “Why did daddy’s stolen money finally run out!” Zach mockingly told Ava making her completely lose it as she was having a horrible night and just couldn't hold back anymore.

“Will you shut up! This isn’t about money right now! I get that you’re angry about what my father did to your family, and believe me I am too! But my father didn’t just ruin your family! He ruined my family too!” Ava screamed out as she was sick and tired of Zach acting like she had a perfect life.

Zach just rolled his eyes again still not seeing that Ava was going through something big. “Oh please! At least you have money! Some people have to work hard to get what they want!” Zach told Ava in annoyance as he had to work so many jobs because his college fund got stolen by Ava’s dad.

Ava just full on lost it after that as Zach was acting as though her father didn’t ruin her life too.

“You wanna talk about having to work hard! I’m a college student having to raise a 14 year old and a toddler all on my own because my parents decided to just ditch them! And just when I think things can’t get worse my brother gets angry and storms off because I told him to stop flirting with his girlfriend and pay attention in school! Oh and just when I think that’s the worst of it life has to throw another curve ball at us! Now my two year old sister is in the hospital and they wanna test her for cancer! So stop acting like you’re the only one with problems! And at least you have parents! I’m doing this all alone!” Ava screamed out as she had been bottling up these emotions for years now and they all just came piling out.

Zach just completely froze up as he looked at Ava as he couldn’t believe what she was saying and he was feeling like such a jerk for not seeing what she was going through.

“Oh my gosh! Ava I had no idea! I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have…” Zach began to say as he felt horrible about how he treated her and with what was going on with her sister. He had met her sister a few times and felt horrible about what was going on with her.

Ava just rolled her eyes as she didn’t want some pity apology. “Save it! I’m not in the mood!” Ava screamed out making Zach feel more guilty as he really was sorry and wanted to help Ava.

“Ava please I’m sorry! I had no idea! Your sister... she seemed so healthy,” Zach began to ramble out making Ava nod as she started breaking down crying again.

“Yeah I know! I don’t know what happened! One minutes she’s fine running around and giggling then next minute she’s struggling to breathe and can’t even take in more than a bite of strawberries!” Ava sobbed out making Zach feel even more horrible as he sat down by Ava.

“Is it really that bad,” Zach asked Ava who just started crying more as she nodded. “They wanna put her on a feeding tube and they want to schedule a bone marrow biopsy and aspiration! I can’t do this! Mal is so young! She doesn’t deserve this!” Ava screamed out making Zach nod.

“But Ava nothings been confirmed right? Maybe it’s just a false alarm,” Zach told Ava trying to help her. Ava just shook her head no as she looked at Zach. 

“They said her blood count levels are off! And she has a lot of signs! Even Caitlin said it before the doctor even said something!” Ava screamed out as she knew Mal probably had cancer. Zach just sighed as he looked at Ava. “Yeah but Ava,” Zach began to say, but got cut off again.

“I can’t lose her! And I should be at the hospital with her right now, but I can’t do it! I can’t just be around her and act like everything is normal!” Ava screamed out making Zach give her a confident look as he knew Ava needed someone to give her a pep talk.

“Come on Jalali! You’re better than this! Don’t be a quitter! You’re not a quitter Jalali! Go be there for your sister!” Zach told Ava trying to convince her to go back and see Mal. Ava just nodded as she knew Zach was right.

“Yeah you’re right! Thanks Fortson! You really helped me. I’m gonna go back in there,” Ava told Zach who nodded as he smiled a little realizing he actually was starting to like Ava.

“No problem Jalali! See you around!” Zach told Ava who nodded and then took off back to the hospital to be there for her little sister who needed it. 

  
  



	10. Family Time In The Hospital

While Ava was still trying to process everything Caitlin was just in the hospital room with the small toddler as she didn’t want to leave Mal by herself and she had no clue where Ava went. The small girl just looked at Caitlin as she wanted Ava.

“Cawyn,” the small girl called out, making Caitlin nod as she looked at Mal. “Yes cutie,” Caitlin asked Mal just looked at her. “Wew mama go?” The small two year old asked Caitlin, making her sigh as she had no clue where Ava was.

She hadn’t seen Ava in at least an hour and she had no clue where she went. Ava went to talk to the doctor and just never came back leaving her alone with her baby sister in the hospital. 

“I don’t know Mal,” Caitlin told the toddler who just started crying as she wanted Ava back. “I wan mama!” Mal screamed out making Caitlin nod as she was getting frustrated with her friend for just leaving her with her sick sister in the hospital.

“I know. I’m sure she’ll be right back. I’m gonna go call her. I'll be right back!” Caitlin told the toddler who nodded. “Otay!” The small girl screamed out as she went back to watching tv while cuddling with her dragon and sucking on her pacifier. 

Caitlin just sighed as she grabbed her phone and went out into the hall to call Ava, but she quickly put it down when she saw Ava walking towards the room. “Ava!” Caitlin screamed out as she was upset that Ava left without saying something.

Ava just sighed as she could see her friend was mad. “Yeah what’s wrong,” Ava asked her friend hoping to not make her go off. “What’s wrong! Are you insane! You just left me with your sister at the hospital!” Caitlin screamed out making Ava groan as it hadn’t worked as Caitlin was clearly still angry. 

“I know I’m sorry! I just freaked out!” Ava screamed out causing Caitlin to stop being angry as she looked at Ava and could tell something happened. “Ava what happened?” Caitlin asked her friend as she lost all anger and replaced it with concern.

Ava just started crying again as she looked at her friend hating having to say it. “Her blood test came back and her cell count is off. They wanna do a bone marrow biopsy and aspiration! I don’t even know what that means but I know it’s not good!” Ava sobbed out making Caitlin gasp in shock as she hugged Ava tightly.

“Oh my gosh! Ava! I’m so sorry!” Caitlin told her friend who just nodded as she pulled away again as she tried to wipe her tears away. “I should go um... before Mal gets suspicious. I don’t want her to know what’s going on,” Ava told Caitlin, trying to act strong.

Caitlin just sighed as she could tell Ava was breaking, but didn’t want to show it. “Ava you don’t always have to be strong for her. This is a hard situation,” Caitlin told Ava who just nodded as she continued to wipe her tears that kept falling.

“Yeah but she’s 2! She doesn’t understand what’s going on! Now I really should go see her,” Ava told Caitlin who nodded in understanding. “Do you want me to be there with you?” Caitlin asked her friend who just shook her head no.

Ava didn’t want to be mean, but she just wanted some time with her sister. “No it’s fine. I want to spend one on one time with her right now,” Ava told Caitlin who nodded again. “Okay well call me if you need to talk. I’ll see you later,” Caitlin told Ava as she hugged her again before leaving.

Once Caitlin left Ava took a deep breath before entering Mal’s room again. “Hey Mal,” Ava told the toddler who smiled when she saw her. “Mama!” Mal screamed out happily making Ava laugh a little.

“Yeah Mal I’m here,” Ava told the toddler who smiled. “Mama we go howm?” The small toddler asked Ava who sighed as she hated doing this to Mal, but she had to. “No Mal I’m really sorry but we have to stay here a little bit,” Ava told the toddler who got upset.

“Oh bu I wan go howm!” The small girl screamed out making Ava hold back tears as she nodded. “I know Mal me too,” Ava told the toddler who quickly turned her attention to something else. 

“Mama I wan my baba,” Mal told Ava who didn’t even hesitate as she reached into the diaper bag and pulled out Mal’s bottle. “Yeah of course! Here you go!” Ava told the toddler as she handed her the bottle making Mal look at her in confusion.

Normally Ava would fight and argue for her to use her sippy cup, but Ava just handed it right over without a fight. Ava started to get concerned when she saw the toddler just staring at her. “What’s wrong,” Ava asked the toddler as she started panicking again.

The small toddler just smiled as she pointed to Ava. “You a wew!” The small girl told Ava, making her sigh in relief as she laughed a little bit. “I’m acting weird?” Ava playfully asked the toddler, making her laugh as she sucked on her bottle.

“Yeah!” Mal screamed out making Ava laugh again as she could see Mal was still just as happy even while still in the hospital. “How am I acting weird?” Ava playfully asked the toddler, making her smile.

“You no ma me sip cup!” The small toddler told Ava who nodded. “I don’t make you use your sippy cup?” Ava asked the toddler playing along with her and making the small girl nod. “Yeah!” Mal told Ava who just sighed.

“I know Mal I just don’t feel like arguing with you right now,” Ava told the toddler who nodded accepting the answer. “Otay!” The two year old screamed out as she turned her attention back to Frozen as she began to giggle and sing along with the movie.

Ava just sighed as she watched the small girl feeling horrible that Mal had no clue what was going to be happening soon. “Mal!” Ava called out making the small girl laugh as she looked up at Ava.

“Ya mama,” Mal asked Ava who sighed as she looked at the innocent little girl. “You know I love you right,” Ava told the toddler who giggled and nodded. “Yeah I wob you too,” the innocent little girl told Ava who nodded.

“You know that no matter what I’m going to be there for you right,” Ava told the toddler as she wanted her to know she was always going to be there. The small girl just giggled and nodded as she didn’t really know what Ava was saying.

Ava just smiled a little as she looked at Mal. “Okay good,” Ava told the toddler who looked at her after a few seconds. “Shh mama! Fwowen!” The small toddler told Ava, making her laugh as she looked at Mal.

“You want me to be quiet so you can watch Frozen?” Ava playfully asked the toddler who smiled and nodded. “Ya! Fwowen!” Mal screamed out as she returned to the movie. Ava just laughed as she sat by Mal and watched Frozen with her. Just enjoying her time with her.

  
  



	11. Leaving The Hospital

Ava smiled a little when she woke up the next day and looked at the adorable little two year old who was cuddled up with her dragon and her bottle while sucking on her pacifier. Ava had to admit she looked so adorable and peaceful.

Ava laughed a little bit when the small girl started to stir as she started to open her eyes and wake up. “Hey sleepy head,” Ava told the toddler who smiled a little bit as she tried to rub her eyes, but got confused when she felt the wires making Ava laugh a little as she couldn’t help it.

“Mal sweetie you’re in the hospital remember. And don’t pull those you need them,” Ava told the toddler who just nodded. Oh yeah!” The small girl screamed out making Ava laugh a little before getting serious. 

“So um... Mal I wanted to talk to you about something,” Ava told the toddler as she wanted to talk to Mal about what was going on. The small girl just gave her an innocent smile as she looked up at her. “Otay!” Mal happily told Ava, making her sigh as she couldn’t do it.

“Okay I can’t do this!” Ava screamed out making the toddler look at her in confusion. “Why no mommy?” The small girl asked Ava, making her sigh as she was about to explain when the door barged open as Carlos had found out about Mal and wanted to see her.

“Mal there you are!” Carlos screamed out as he ran over to the toddler making Ava look at him in shock and confusion as she hadn't seen him since he took off after their fight. “Carlos? What are you doing here?” Ava asked her brother in shock. Carlos just quickly ran over to Ava and hugged her as he broke down crying. 

“Ava I messed up! I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you! You were only trying to be a good big sister! It’s just when you started acting like mom it made me miss her! I felt like you were replacing mom and it hurt! But I shouldn’t have done that! And now our baby sister is in the hospital! Ava I’m so sorry for causing you so much stress! I wasn’t wrong though! You’re not mom,” Carlos rambled out making Ava look at him as she was trying to take in all his words.

“I’m not?” Ava asked Carlos a little hurt that he still would say that to her. Carlos just nodded though as he looked at her.

“No because you’re better than mom! Mom would never be able to handle all of this! She would have freaked out and probably would have left everything up to you and dad! But Ava you’re not giving up and you’re not leaving! You’re dealing with all of this! And I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you for it! I love you Ava! And I’m so glad to have you as my big sister and caretaker!” Carlos told Ava making her break down sobbing as well as she hugged Carlos tightly.

“I’m so scared right now!” Ava admitted to her brother who just nodded as he kept crying on Ava. “I know me too,” Carlos told Ava who continued to just hug him as they both cried on each other making the small girl that was watching in confusion get upset as she hated crying.

“No cwy!’ The small toddler screamed out making Carlos and Ava laugh as they pulled away from the hug and wiped their tears. Mal just giggled as she looked at her older siblings. “Yay! No mow cwy!” The small girl screamed out happily making Ava and Carlos laugh again.

“You’re so silly Mal! And Mal I love you so much!” Ava told the toddler who giggled. “Wob you too!” The small girl told Ava making her smile and Carlos joined in as well. “Yeah and I love you too Mal!” Carlos told the toddler who giggled again.

“Wob you bi dowy!” The small toddler told Carlos, making him laugh as he held back tears again as she used the nickname that she always called him. “Love you too little puppy!” Carlos told the toddler again using his nickname for her this time. 

The small toddler just smiled as she looked at her siblings. “We go howm now?” The toddler asked Ava and Carlos making Ava sigh again. “We can’t go home yet Mal and Mal I don’t know when we’re going home,” Ava admitted to the toddler making her get upset.

“Bu I wan go howm!” The small girl screamed out making Ava sigh again. “I know Mal trust me. We all want to go home, but unfortunately we can’t yet,” Ava told the toddler who just just got more upset.

“Why!” Mal screamed out as she wanted to go home and she hated it in the hospital. Ava just sighed as she hated this too. “Because the doctors want to make sure that you are actually better before we go home,” Ava told the toddler who just nodded.

“Oh otay!” Mal told Ava as she turned her attention back to something else making Ava sigh as she knew this was gonna be a long few days. “Okay Mal now I really need to tell you something,” Ava told the toddler after they had been in the hospital for a few days and it was the day of Mal’s bone marrow aspiration and biopsy.

The small girl just looked up from her toys as she looked at Ava making Ava sigh as she didn’t want to do this, but she knew she had to. “Mal in a few hours the doctor is gonna come in and she’s gonna take you to a different room,” Ava told the toddler who looked at her in confusion as she took out her pacifier.

“Why,” The small girl asked Ava who sighed. “Because the doctors have to test for something, but don’t worry you’re just gonna take a little nap okay and I’m gonna be there with you the whole time,” Ava told the toddler trying to dummy down the explanation, so Mal didn’t freak out when it came time for the aspiration and biopsy.

Mal just nodded as she put her pacifier back in and went back to playing with her toys. Ava sighed when she saw the doctor come in after it had been a few hours and it was time for Mal’s bone marrow aspiration and biopsy. Ava just knew Mal was gonna freak out.

The doctor just smiled as she looked at Mal who was happily playing with her toys. “Hi there Mal! You ready!” The doctor told the small girl who stopped playing with her toys when she saw the scary doctor as she immediately started crying.

The doctor just smiled as she looked at Mal trying to calm her. “Aw don’t worry I know it can be a little scary, but it will be over before you know it and your mama will be right there with you,” the doctor told the small girl in a gentle voice making Mal keep crying as she was scared.

Ava just sighed as she hated seeing her sister so scared as she quickly ran her fingers through Mal’s hair. “Hey sweetie I know this is scary, but you gotta be a big girl. And Mal the doctor is right. I’m gonna be with you the whole time,” Ava told the toddler hoping to calm her.

Mal calmed down a little bit, but got more freaked out again when the doctor wheeled her into the operating room where she saw all the scary medical equipment making her more scared as she started freaking out.

“Mama! No! No wan id!” The small girl screamed out at the top of her lungs as she was terrified. Ava just held back her tears as she watched the toddler kick and scream, not allowing the doctors to insert the IVs and other wires that they needed to insert.

She hated this. She just wanted to leave with Mal and never come back, but she knew Mal needed this. She would never forgive herself if this did turn out to be cancer and she had just taken off.

Ava just grabbed onto Mal’s hand and looked at the screaming toddler. “ Mal hey it’s okay!” Ava began to say, but Mal just kept crying as she shook her head and started screaming more. “No!” The small girl screamed out, making Ava home back more tears.

“Mal they’re not going to hurt you. I promise sweetie they just want to help you!” Ava told the toddler who just kept crying and thrashing. “NO!” The small girl screamed out at the top of her lungs.

“Mal, please we can go home after this!” Ava told the toddler knowing that would calm her. Ava sighed in relief when Mal did start calming down as she looked at her. “Weawy?” The young girl asked Ava who just nodded.

“Yeah, so are you gonna let the doctors put the wires on you?” Ava asked the toddler who just nodded even though she was still scared and she didn’t want to do it. Ava just smiled a little bit as she looked at the toddler.

“Okay good,” Ava told the toddler as she watched the toddler behave while the doctors put all the wires on her, so they could monitor her vitals. They then placed the anesthesia on the toddler.

“Okay now sweetie just relax and take a nap. It will be over before you know it,” the doctor told the toddler in her gentle voice as she saw how freaked out the small girl was. Mal just nodded as she got sleepy and before she knew it she was out.

Once Mal was passed out the doctor just looked at Ava as she could tell Ava looked uneasy.

“Okay now you can either stay and watch or you can wait in the waiting room and we can get you right before she wakes up, so she won’t know you left. It’s up to you. Some parents prefer to not be in the room but it’s up to you either way,” the doctor told Ava as she could tell Ava looked conflicted and she didn’t want to force Ava to watch when she didn’t want to.

Ava just sighed as she didn’t like the idea of watching as it made her uncomfortable, but as she looked at the sleeping toddler she knew she owed it to her. “Yeah um... I think I’ll stay. I don’t want to lie to her when she asks if I stayed the whole time or not,” Ava told the doctor who nodded as she did the procedure.

When the procedure was over they were put in the recovery room to wait for Mal to wake up. Ava smiled when the small girl finally woke up feeling loopy from the anestesia. “Hey sleepy head,” Ava playfully told the toddler as she was happy to be leaving the hospital.

Mal just giggled as she was extremely loopy. “Mama!” The small girl giggled out making Ava laugh as she couldn’t help it. “Yeah sweetie!” Ava asked the toddler who giggled again. “We go howm,” Mal asked Ava who laughed as she nodded.

“Yeah Mal we go home,” Ava told the toddler who smiled and clapped her hands as she was still loopy. “Yay!” The small girl screamed out making Ava laugh as she picked her up and they headed home. 

When they got back home Ava placed Mal back into her crib as she smiled at her. “We’re back home Mal!” Ava told the toddler who giggled. “Yay!” Mal screamed out excitedly. Ava just sighed as she sat down on her bed. “Yeah now we just have to wait on the results,” Ava said out loud as she just laid down and slept as she had been exhausted from staying with the toddler in the hospital for a few days and was just relieved to be home. 

  
  



	12. More Bad News

“Okay so we have that huge test tomorrow, so what did you get for number five,” Ava asked her friends as it had been a few days since they had gotten back from the hospital and they were waiting on the results.

Ava had quickly fallen back into her normal routine and right now she was studying with her friend while Mal was just quietly playing with her toys next to her as Mal still barely had any energy.

Ava was interrupted though when her phone rang causing her to groan as she saw it was an unknown number. Ava was going to ignore it until she remembered that she was still waiting on Mal’s results.

Ava just sighed as she hit answer not expecting it to actually be anyone though. Ava was surprised when she heard someone actually answer though. “Hi is this Ava Jalali?” The person on the phone asked Ava making her roll her eyes as she didn’t know who was calling.

“Um yeah who is this?” Ava asked, making the receptionist sigh. “I’m the receptionist at Oregon Children’s Hospital. We have Mal Jalali’s results and we would like to see you right away,” the receptionist told Ava, making her freeze up as she dropped the phone and broke down sobbing.

Dylan and Caitlin immediately became concerned when they saw Ava break down sobbing on the floor as they quickly ran over to her. “Ava what’s going on!” Dylan screamed out in concern. 

Ava just ignored him as she kept sobbing and then grabbed her alcohol as she started chugging it trying to numb the pain. Dylan and Caitlin quickly became more concerned as they ran over to her again.

“Ava! What are you doing!” Dylan screamed out as he was worried about her. Ava just ignored him again as she kept chugging. “Ava seriously you’re freaking us out! What happened!” Caitlin told Ava making her lose it.

“WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT HAPPENED? REALLY! YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENED! FINE THAT WAS THE HOSPITAL THEY WANNA SEE US RIGHT AWAY! WHY DOES LIFE HATE MY FAMILY SO MUCH! WHAT DID I EVER DO TO MAKE LIFE HATE ME AND MY FAMILY SO MUCH!” Ava screamed out as she continued to just sob and drink.

Caitlin just ran over and hugged Ava as she wanted to help. “Ava calm down. It’s going to be okay,” Caitlin told Ava, making hefr scoff as she pushed Caitlin off of her.

“HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT! YOU SAY THAT EVERY TIME! AND EVERY SINGLE TIME IT GETS WORSE!” Ava screamed out making Caitlin sigh as she just wanted to help her friend.

“Ava I’m just trying to look at the positives,” Caitlin began to say, but Ava cut her off not wanting to hear it. “WHAT POSITIVES! THERE ARE NONE! NOW IF YOU WILL EXCUSE ME I HAVE TO GO!” Ava screamed out as she picked up the toddler and left.

The small girl just looked at Ava in confusion as she didn’t understand what was going on. “Mama why you ma?” Mal asked Ava who sighed as she buckled Mal into her car seat.

“Mal sweetie it’s very complicated,” Ava told the toddler who nodded. “Otay! Mama wew we go?” The small girl asked Ava, but quickly started crying when she saw them pull up to the hospital. 

“NO!” The small girl screamed out making Ava sigh. “Mal we have to!” Ava told the toddler who started screaming more, not wanting to go back into the hospital. Ava just sighed as she got out of the car and picked up the screaming toddler. 

“NO! NO! NO!” The small girl screamed out making Ava sigh. “Mal we have to!” Ava screamed out as she just held the thrashing toddler and entered the hospital. 

Ava sighed as she entered the hospital and then sat down in the exam room waiting for the doctor to explain the results that she already knew was gonna be mad.

“Mama!” The small girl asked Ava, making her sigh. “Yeah Mal?” Ava asked the toddler who just looked at her. “Why we hew aben?” Mal asked Ava who sighed as she hated this.

“Because the doctors have to tell us something,” Ava told the toddler who nodded. “Oh otay!” The small girl screamed out as she went back to playing on her tablet. A few minutes later the doctor entered looking sad making Ava sigh as she knew she was about to get bad news.

Once the doctor entered she just looked at Ava. “So I can tell from your reaction that you already know her results weren’t good,” the doctor told Ava sadly making Ava nod. “I figured,” Ava told the doctor who just nodded as she sat down by Ava.

“I really hate having to say this but unfortunately your child has Leukemia. I am so sorry,” the doctor told Ava and those four words just hit her like a ton of bricks as she realized her worst fears were happening.

“She has cancer?” Ava asked as she didn’t know what else to say. She couldn’t believe this was really happening. “Unfortunately yes I am so sorry!” The doctor told Ava who just broke down sobbing again trying to wrap her brain around what was happening.

“She’s lucky it was caught early though. And I know this is hard, but she has a very high survival rate. Most children diagnosed with Leukemia go into remission and live long lives. But of course it’s going to be a long and difficult journey,” the doctor told Ava trying to reassure her that this wasn’t the end.

Ava just nodded as she kept crying, not even really listening as all her brain was thinking about was how her baby sister had cancer. “Mama why you cwy?” The small girl asked Ava as she saw her break down crying again.

Ava just looked over at the happy and smiley innocent toddler as she just broke down crying more as she thought about how much Mal was going to go through. “Mama! No cwy!” The two year old screamed out as she tried to wipe Ava’s tears away, but Ava just started crying more.

The doctor just looked at the confused toddler as she felt so bad for her. “Hi sweetie do you wanna go play over there with the toys?” The doctor asked the toddler wanting to keep talking to Ava without distractions.

Mal just giggled and nodded as she ran over to go play with the toys. Once she knew the toddler was occupied the doctor looked at Ava who was still sobbing as she couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Now I understand this is hard but we need to talk about what to do next. There is this really great children’s cancer treatment center and I can arrange for you to get an appointment to discuss treatment and what to do next moving forward,” The doctor told Ava who just nodded as she was just feeling numb right now.

“Okay I just set it up. They can get you in there right away,” The doctor told Ava who just nodded again, still barely able to say anything as she just looked at the toddler. “Mal let’s go!” Ava screamed out making the small girl smile as she came over to Ava. 

“Mama we go howm?” Mal asked Ava who sighed again as she picked up Mal and buckled her into her car seat. “No Mal we have to go to another place now,” Ava told the toddler who nodded.

“An den howm?” The small toddler asked Ava who just tried not to cry as she honestly didn’t know when they would be home. “ I don’t know,” Ava told the toddler who just nodded as she bounced around to the music not understanding what was going on.

Ava just started silently crying again as she drove to the children’s cancer center she was being sent to. Ava sighed as the small toddler continued to just giggle in her car seat.

“Baby Sawk!” Mal screamed out excitedly making Ava groan as she didn’t want to listen to a cheerful and upbeat song. “Mal please I don’t feel like listening to that right now,” Ava told the toddler, making her start crying.

“Baby Sawk! Baby Sawk! Baby Sawk!” The small girl screamed out as she started kicking, making her nose start bleeding again. “Mama! Bweed!” The small girl screamed out again as she felt the blood.

Ava just groaned as she looked back to see Mal’s nose bleeding again. “Sh**! Okay Mal I got it!” Ava screamed out as she pulled over into the nearest parking lot and got out a napkin as she applied it to Mal’s nose to stop the bleeding.

“There is that better?” Ava asked the toddler who just nodded while still crying. “Baby Sawk?” Mal asked Ava again, making her nod as she got back into the car not wanting another nosebleed.

“Okay fine here Mal we’ll play Baby Shark,” Ava told the toddler as she put on Mal’s favorite song and kept driving. The small girl smiled happily as she clapped her hands. “Yay! Baby Sawk!” The small girl screamed out as she began to bounce in her car seat again.

Ava just groaned as she didn’t want another nose bleed. “Mal no! No bouncing around right now! “ Ava screamed out, making the toddler stop as she looked at Ava in confusion.

“Why no?” Mal asked Ava who just groaned as she wasn’t having a good day and didn’t like arguing with the toddler. “Because I said so!” Ava screamed out making the toddler nod. “Otay! Mama!” The small toddler screamed out making Ava sigh again.

“Yes Mal,” Ava asked the toddler. “Why you cwy ad da pwace?” The small girl asked Ava, making her sigh. “Mal it’s complicated okay. Just listen to your song or I’m changing it because I’m really not in the mood for a song like this right now,” Ava told the toddler who just nodded as she went back to singing Baby Shark.

Ava just started crying more as she pulled over into a random parking lot. “Okay I can’t do this!” Ava screamed out as she grabbed her phone and started dialing Alison’s number. Alison picked up right away to Ava’s relief.

“Hello?” Alison asked over the phone making Ava keep crying. “Alison I need help please!” Ava cried out over the phone as she couldn’t do this by herself. Alison immediately became concerned as she heard Ava crying.

“What’s wrong?” Alison asked Ava in concern making her freak out. “I can’t do this!” Ava screamed out in distress. “Okay Ava calm down explain to me what’s going on?” Alison asked her friend as she began to worry that Ava was going to do something.

Ava just took a deep breath as she answered. “Mal’s test results came in and she... she... she... she has Leukemia! I can’t do this! Alison I need help! Please you’re a mom help me!” Ava cried out as she couldn’t handle this and needed help.

Alison just held back her own tears as she took in Ava’s words. “Oh my gosh! Ava I’m so sorry about Mal! It’s okay where are you?” Alison asked Ava as she was worried by the way Ava was talking.

“In a random parking lot. They want me to go to this Children’s Cancer Center to talk about treatment options, but I can’t do this! It’s too much! I can’t do this!” Ava screamed out making Alison nod.

“Okay Ava stay there I’ll be right there,” Alison told Ava as she quickly went to her car car and got in her car to help Ava. “Okay thank you so much Alison! Please hurry! I need someone here right now!” Ava told Alison who just nodded.

“Don’t worry I’ll be there really soon! I’m on my way now,” Alison told Ava who just calmed down a little bit. “Okay thank you!” Ava told Alison as she hung up and looked at the toddler who was confused.

“Wa go on?” Mal asked Ava who just sighed. “Nothing Mal everything is fine. Alison is just going to come for a little visit,” Ava told the small girl who just smiled. “Yay! I wob hew!” The two year old screamed out excitedly. 

Ava just nodded as broke down crying again. “Mama! You cwy aben! No cwy!” The toddler innocently told Ava making her look at the innocent little girl as she started bawling. 

  
  



	13. You're Not Alone

“Mama!” The small girl screamed out when she saw Ava start bawling. Ava just quickly tried to wipe her tears as she nodded. “ know Mal no cry,” Ava told the toddler who smiled and nodded, but got another nose bleed.

“Mama! Bweed!” The small girl screamed out again making Ava sigh as she pulled out another napkin and applied it to Mal’s nose. A few seconds later Alison arrived as she quickly ran over to Ava and hugged her.

“I can’t believe this is happening!” Ava cried out as she broke down sobbing all over Alison who just nodded. “I know Ava. Life is just so cruel sometimes. Ava what is that,” Alison told Ava when she spotted the napkin covered in Mal’s blood from her nosebleed.

Ava just held up the napkin as she looked at Alison. “Oh are you looking at this. Yeah she had another nose bleed. God how could I be so stupid! She’s been having so many nosebleeds lately, lots of bruises, and she wasn’t really gaining any weight, and she was pretty pale, but I figured that was normal! I suck at parenting! How did I not see the warning signs? They were literally right in front of me!” Ava screamed out as she was blaming herself again.

Alison just sighed as she hated that Ava kept blaming herself. “Ava it’s not your fault. You’re right all of those things are pretty normal when talking about a toddler. Trust me I’m a mom and I don’t think I would see anything wrong with those things either. The only thing I would have been worried about is the weight loss, but other than that nose bleeds are pretty normal. And children are always falling down and getting hurt. And Ava, Mal has always been pale. And it’s harder with toddlers because they are too young to tell us what’s wrong,” Alison rambled out trying to make Ava stop blaming herself.

Ava just sighed. “But still! How did I not notice it! I spend every day with her! I should have noticed something was off!” Ava screamed out. “Ava it’s okay,” Alisom began to say, but Ava just lost it after that.

“HOW! HOW IS ANY OF THIS OKAY! MY TWO YEAR OLD WAS JUST DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER! A DEADLY DISEASE! I just don’t know what to do anymore! She’s going to suffer and I can’t stop it!” Ava screamed out making Alison sigh as she knew Ava was right, but she still wanted to make her feel better.

“Ava I know this is hard,” Alison began to say, but Ava wasn’t having it. Alison had two healthy kids right now. She had no clue what this felt like.

“HOW! YOU’RE LUCKY! YOUR CHILDREN ARE PERFECT AND HEALTHY! YOU DON’T HAVE TO SUFFER THROUGH THIS! I AM GOING TO HAVE TO WATCH HER SUFFER AND I CAN’T DO ANYTHING TO HELP HER! HOW IS ANY OF THAT OKAY!” Ava screamed out leaving Alison speechless as she knew Ava was right.

“Mama!” The small two year old screamed out as she knew her mama was upset, but she didn’t understand why. Ava just groaned as she had completely forgotten Mal was there. “Sh**! Yeah Mal,” Ava called out to the toddler.

“Wa you taw bow?” Mal asked Ava who just sighed as she didn’t want to tell Mal what was going on. “Nothing! Listen to Baby Shark!” Ava told the toddler, making her smile. “Yay! Baby Sawk!” Mal screamed out as she started singing Baby Shark again.

Making Ava sigh in relief. While Alison watched the toddler in sadness. “Ava I may not understand what it’s like to be a parent to a child who has cancer, but Ava I care about Mal. I see her everyday as well and she has play dates with my girls. Ava trust me you’re not the only one that’s going to have to watch her suffer, but Ava she needs to have a fighting chance! Don’t give up! She needs you now more than ever!” Alison told Ava trying to give her a pep talk to convince her to not give up.

Ava just nodded as she looked at Alison. “I know but this is just so hard! I don’t want to see her suffer! I don’t want her to feel like she’s not a normal kid! I don’t want her to die at the age of two! She’s a baby right now! She doesn’t deserve this!” Ava cried out making Alison nod as she hugged Ava again.

“I know Ava like I said life can be so cruel. Now how about I go with you to the cancer center so you’re not alone,” Alison told Ava who nodded. “Yes please! I can’t go in there by myself! I’m gonna lose it!” Ava told Alison who nodded again.

“Okay come on. Are you ready?” Alison asked Ava who shook her head no. “No but I have to do this anyway,” Ava told Alison who nodded as she got into her car as they both drove to the Children’s Cancer Center they were being sent to. 

“I can’t believe this is actually happening!” Ava screamed out as they reached the cancer center. Alison just nodded as she looked at Ava. “I know Ava, but we have to go in there,” Alison told Ava who just sighed as she unbuckled the toddler and they went into the cancer center.

As soon as they entered the small girl started squirming as she wanted down. “I wan dow!” Mal screamed out, making Ava sigh as she placed Mal down and she immediately started giggling and running inside accidentally running into someone causing her to fall down and get another bruise.

“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry!” Evie screamed out as she helped the small girl up and she gasped when she saw the bruise and the nosebleed that she caused on the small girl as she hadn't meant to do that. 

She was still new at volunteering. “Oh my gosh! You poor baby! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!” Evie screamed out as she tried to help the toddler who couldn’t stop staring at her in shock as she looked exactly like her mama, but with blue hair and a little bit younger.

Before Evie could really help the toddler Ava came running over. “Mal there you are! Oh sh** another nose bleed!” Ava groaned out as she picked up the toddler that couldn’t stop staring at Evie.

“Mal what are you doing! Come on we have to go see the doctor... Okay what the!” Ava screamed out as she looked up and got a good look at Evie who looked almost identical to her, but with blue hair and she looked a few years younger around Carlos's age.

Evie just laughed as she looked at Ava’s confused face. “Hi! I’m Evie! I’m a volunteer here!” Evie told Ava who just nodded. “I’m Ava and holly wow you look like me!” Ava told Evie who laughed again.

“Yeah I thought that too but didn’t want to say anything! And I am so sorry about her! I wasn’t watching where I was going and I accidentally ran into her! I promise I didn’t mean to hurt her!” Evie rambled out as she was feeling horrible.

Ava just rolled her eyes as she looked at the younger girl. “It’s fine. She bruises easily right now. And the nose bleed thing is normal right now too. Anyway I would love to stay and chat but my sister was just diagnosed with a deadly disease and I have to go talk about treatment,” Ava screamed out making Evie gasp.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! I just completely forgot this was a cancer center! I am so sorry!” Evie screamed out feeling horrible.

Ava just rolled her eyes as she didn’t feel like entertaining some kid when she was going through a lot. “Yeah well,” Ava told Evie with an attitude as she picked up the toddler and left.

Alison just quickly ran over to Evie feeling bad for how rude Ava had been to the younger girl. “I’m so sorry about that she’s just going through a lot right now. So you’re a volunteer?” Alison asked Evie, making her smile.

“Oh yeah no I totally get it! I’ve seen plenty of people more rude than that! And yeah I’m a volunteer! I love helping people and it looks good on college applications!” Evie told Alison who started studying the girl.

“College applications?” Alison asked Evie trying to gauge how old Evie was. “Yeah I’m 14 well almost 15! I know it’s early to be talking about college and stuff, but my dream school is BHU and I heard it’s like almost impossible to get into that school!” Evie rambled out causing Alison to take in the information.

This girl was the exact same age as Carlos. “You’re 14 almost 15?” Alison asked Evie again, making her nod. “Yeah! Why?” Evie asked Alison not understanding what was going on. Alison just nodded as she was trying to play detective.

“Nothing, it's just that you look so much like Ava and Ava has a brother named Carlos who is 14 almost 15. I just thought it was a coincidence,” Alison told the younger girl making her smile.

“Oh that’s cool! Yeah well I actually don’t know who my parents are to be honest! I live with a foster family!” Evie told Alison just making her feel even more as though her hunch could be right.

“Oh really,” Alison asked Evie, making her nod. “Yeah! Anyway I should get back to work before they “fire” me! And again I’m so sorry about um... your daughter?” Evie told Alison assuming Mal was hers.

Alison just laughed a little bit as she looked at Evie. “Oh no! Mal isn’t my daughter! I’m a friend of Ava’s and Mal is her sister that she is raising. I’m just here for moral support because she’s going through a lot right now,” Alison told Evie who just nodded.

“Oh well either way I’m so sorry!” Evie told Alison, making Alison nod again. “Yeah me too. Well I should go before Ava takes off with Mal before they can even tell her what to do for treatment!” Alison jokingly told Evie but also she was being somewhat serious.

Evie just laughed a little bit. “Oh wow!” Evie jokingly told Alison getting the attention of her boss, the head volunteer. “Evie! Are you talking to people again and not doing your work!” The head volunteer asked Evie as Evie was always getting in trouble for talking to people and not working.

Evie just laughed as she looked at Alison. “Whoops! I should go! Bye! It was nice talking to you!” Evie screamed out as she went running off to go do her work. “Alison!” Ava screamed out as she still couldn't go in there without her. 

Alison just sighed as she knew there was something more to that story with Evie, but she knew Ava needed her right now. “I’m coming!” Alison screamed out as she ran back over to meet up with Ava and Mal. 

  
  



	14. The Start Of Treatment

Ava just groaned as she looked at Alison. “Why were you talking to that kid?” Ava asked Alison while they were walking to the room to discuss Mal’s treatment. Alison just sighed as she looked at Ava.

“Because I felt bad for her. I like helping people. That’s why I moved to BHU. To help people,” Alison told Ava who just rolled her eyes. 

“That kid is fine! She is just a volunteer who is here probably just for a stupid college application! Meanwhile I’m about to be told how to deal with my toddler who was just diagnosed with cancer!” Ava screamed out making Alison nod as she knew Ava was right.

“Yeah you’re right. Come on let’s go,” Alison told Ava as they entered the room to talk about Mal’s treatment. As soon as they entered the room the doctor gave out a small smile when he saw Mal not wanting to upset the small girl.

“Hi there you must be Mal!” The doctor told the small girl who just started crying as she buried her head in Ava’s shirt. “Aw it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you,” the doctor told the toddler trying to calm her down, but it just made Mal cry more.

Ava just groaned as she wasn’t in the mood. “Look she doesn’t like that. Can you just tell me what to do next now that I know she has Leukemia. I really don’t want to be here right now,” Ava told the doctor who just nodded.

“Yes of course! Okay well according to the tests that have been sent to us we will need to start with…” The doctor began saying, but Ava wasn’t really listening as her brain was still trying to process everything.

“And of course you will want to do chemo” The doctor continued to explain out to Ava who just nodded as her whole body felt numb as she couldn’t believe this was really happening. 

“Okay well I believe that’s all for now. We want to start treatment as soon as possible for the best chance of survival. I believe it will be best if we admit her and start treatment starting now,” the doctor told both Ava and Alison.

Ava just nodded as still couldn’t say anything as it was all becoming real. Her baby sister really does have cancer. Alison just groaned when she saw that Ava was completely zoned out. 

“Thank you doctor. Ava!” Alison screamed out as she shook Ava bringing her back to reality. “Huh!” Ava called out making Alison sigh. “Ava you zoned out. They want to admit her here and start treatment,” Alison told Ava as she couldn’t believe Ava would zone out during something that important.

Ava just nodded as she looked at Mal. “Okay Mal come on!” Ava screamed out causing the small girl to run over. “Ava you completely zoned out!” Alison screamed out once they were in the hall. 

Ava just rolled her eyes as she looked at her friend. “I did not!” Ava screamed out making Alison roll her eyes as she saw Ava zone out. “Yes you did! That doctor was trying to explain treatment options for Mal and you completely zoned out!” Alison screamed out making Ava roll her eyes again.

“I was not zoned out! My brain was trying to process it all!” Ava screamed out causing her to get distracted that she didn't realize Mal managed to get down and was walking ahead again and not paying attention as she ran into Evie again.

Evie just laughed as she helped the toddler up again. “Oh look at that! It seems we can’t stop running into each other huh!” Evie playfully told the toddler making her giggle. Evie gasped though when she saw she gave the toddler another nose bleed. 

“Oh I’m so sorry! Come here! I’m not supposed to be interacting much with the actual patients since I’m only 14 but you’re technically not a patient yet or at least I don’t think!” Evie rambled out causing the toddler to look at her in confusion.

Evie just laughed as she remembered Mal was only two. “Oh right! I’m talking to a baby! Sorry!” Evie screamed out as she grabbed a napkin and held it over Mal’s nose making Mal giggle again.

Evie just looked at the happy toddler in sadness as she realized what the toddler is about to go through. “You are just a little ray of sunshine huh!” Evie playfully told the toddler making her giggle again. 

Before Evie could say more Ava came over as she quickly grabbed the toddler. “Mal come here!” Ava screamed out making the small girl smile as she ran over to Ava. Evie just started rambling again as she saw she upset Ava again. 

“Oh I’m so sorry! I wasn’t... you see... I accidentally ran into her again and then her nose started bleeding and so I wanted to help her! I’m really sorry!” Evie rambled out making Ava groan in frustration as Evie was way too cheerful.

“It’s fine!” Ava told Evie in frustration and Evie couldn’t help herself when she realized they weren’t going home. “It doesn’t look like you’re going home? Oh they’re admitting her aren’t they! I’m so sorry!” Evie rambled out again as she was feeling horrible.

Ava just rolled her eyes as she didn’t feel like entertaining some hyper kid. “Look can you just stop! I don’t feel like dealing with some overly cheerful kid right now!” Ava screamed out as she was stressed and upset. 

Evie just sighed as she hadn’t meant to make Ava upset and was just trying to make small talk as that was just the person she was. “I’m sorry! I just don’t really know how to react! I feel horrible! She seems like such an adorable little ray of sunshine!” Evie told Ava who just rolled her eyes as she left with Mal to her room.

Alison just sighed as she felt bad for how Ava was treating Evie again. “Again I’m sorry about her she really is just going through a lot right now,” Alison told Evie who just nodded.

“Yeah I know I totally get it! And um... I just have one question that’s kinda been bugging me since we spoke earlier. So can I ask you a question?” Evie asked the older girl who just nodded. “Um... yeah I guess,” Alison told Evie as she didn’t really know what Evie wanted to ask.

Evie just smiled as she looked at Alison. “Okay well it’s weird I don’t know it’s just that I can’t stop thinking about what you said earlier about Ava that’s her name right. Well anyway about how she has a little brother exactly my age and how I look almost identical to Ava! And how I live in foster care! I don’t know it’s crazy, but do you think there is a possibility that Ava’s brother could have had a twin?” Evie rambled out making Alison look at her in shock.

That possibility had crossed her mind but she wasn’t expecting Evie herself to think it could be true as well. Evie just felt embarrassed when she saw that Alison was just staring at her in shock and not saying anything.

“Oh my gosh I probably sound insane! I’m so sorry! Just forget I said that! I gotta go my volunteer shift is over and I was about to head home earlier, but then Mal ran into me and I didn’t feel right leaving her by herself with a nose bleed I caused! And my foster mom is gonna be angry if she finds out I’m here and not working on my looks! I swear she just doesn’t get it! I don’t want to be like that! Oh I’m sorry I’m rambling again!” Evie rambled out feeling embarrassed. 

Alison just smiled a little as she came out of her shock. “No, I don’t think you’re insane. And I’ve been through some pretty crazy things, so honestly the possibility of you being Carlos’s twin could be a possibility and it wouldn’t shock me that much,” Alison told Evie, making her smile again.

“Really! Well now I kinda wanna know! I’ve always wanted to know my family!” Evie told Alison who nodded in understanding. “Yeah I can understand that. I’ll tell you what I’ll see what I can do and let you know,” Alison told Evie, making her get excited at the possibility of finding her birth family.

“Really! That’s awesome! Thank you so much! Ugh the Evil Queen is calling aka my foster mom! I can’t stand her! Well I gotta go before she gets angry! And again thank you so much! Bye!” Evie screamed out as she hugged Alison and ran out the door. 

Alison just watched Evie leave and then quickly made her way to Mal’s room where she found Ava crying and drinking from a flask. “Ava?” Alison called out to gain her attention. Ava just quickly looked up as she tried to hide the flask. 

“Ava are you drinking right now?” Alison asked Ava in disbelief making Ava roll her eyes. “Keep it down would you!” Ava told Alison making her get upset as Ava was drinking in a hospital.

“No! Ava you are at a cancer Center for your kid and you are drinking right now!” Alison screamed out making Ava look up at her.

“It numbs the pain! I can’t do this! You should have heard her screams when they took her to put a port in! She was screaming bloody murder and I couldn’t stop her! How am I supposed to do this!” Ava screamed out making Alison sigh.

“Because she needs you! Ava you are all she has! You can’t give up on her! I know this is hard! I know this is life changing, but Ava she is two and she is terrified and she needs you as her guardian to be there for her! And stop drinking! It’s not going to help!” Alison screamed out as she was getting sick of Ava’s attitude.

“I just this is all... it’s moving way too fast! She just got diagnosed and now they’re already gonna start treatment! I don’t want to see her in pain!” Ava cried out making Alison nod again.

“I know Ava, but it happened! You can’t stop it! This is going to be a long process! You just have to stay strong and be there for her! I’m serious Ava don’t give up on her!” Alison screamed out making Ava nod as she started sobbing again. 

  
  



	15. Twins Or Not?

Carlos sighs as he enters the cancer center the next day to come see his baby sister. He was so distracted that he didn't see the girl that wasn’t paying attention either causing them both to run into each other and knocking them both down. 

Carlos gasped as he looked at Evie. “Oh my gosh are you okay!” Carlos asked Evie as he felt bad for knocking into her. Evie just laughed as she got up and helped Carlos up as well. “Yeah I’m fine and I’m so sorry! It was my fault! I’m such a klutz! Hey I’ve never seen you here before are you new?” Evie rambled out again making Carlos laugh a little bit.

“Sort of I’m here for my baby sister,” Carlos told Evie, making her gasp in realization as she realized who Carlos was. “Wait are you Carlos!” Evie screamed out making him look at her a little weirded out that he just met this girl and she knew who he was.

“Um... yeah... um... how did you know?” Carlos asked as he was starting to become freaked out. Evie just gasped as she realized she sounded like a creep. 

“Oh I’m sorry I sound creepy don’t I! I promise I’m not a creep! I ran into your sisters earlier and her friend and her friend mentioned you!” Evie told Carlos as she didn’t want him to think she was some crazy stalker.

Carlos just laughed as he looked at Evie. “Yeah I get it and you look so much like my big sister! I just noticed that! What’s your name?” Carlos asked Evie, making her laugh. “Oh I’m Evie!” Evie told Carlos as she held out her hand and he shook it.

“Cool! How old are you?” Carlos asked Evie, making her laugh. “14 almost 15 though! I turn 15 next week!” Evie told Carlos, making him smile. “Oh wow! I turn 15 next week too!” Carlos screamed out making Evie laugh.

“Really! What day!” Evie asked Carlos, making him groan. “Monday ugh!” Carlos told Evie, making her laugh. “Me too!” Evie told Carlos excitedly.

“Really! That’s cool we have the same birthday!” Carlos screamed out excitedly making Evie laugh excitedly as well. “Yeah we do!” Evie told Carlos, making him smile, but he quickly got sad as he remembered where they were.

“So um... what brings you to this cancer center?” Carlos asked Evie as he started to worry that she had cancer too. He didn’t want Evie to have cancer. Evie just smiled when she could tell what Carlos was getting at.

“Oh I’m not a patient! I’m a volunteer!” Evie told Carlos, making him sigh in relief. “Oh okay good!” Carlos told Evie, making her laugh a little bit before getting sad as she remembered why he was there. 

“Yeah and I’m really sorry about your sister,” Evie told Carlos who just nodded. “Thanks for that and she’s a fighter. I believe she can fight this!” Carlos told Evie making her nod as she started feeling sad.

“Yeah I do too! It’s so tragic how these things happen to children who are just so young! I mean it's tragic for anyone but with children it’s just,” Evie began to say, but Carlos cut her off.

“Yeah I know what you mean. It sucks! I hate this! But I just gotta be strong and I can’t give up! I know my sister and I know she can handle this! Anyway I should go see her. It was nice talking to you Evie and I still can’t get over how much you look like Ava!” Carlos told Evie, making her laugh a little.

“Yeah I know what you mean! And yeah it’s insane I thought that too! And I find it even more insane that we have the exact same birthday and are exactly the same age!” Evie told Carlos, making him laugh.

“Yeah I know! It’s like we’re long lost twins or something!” Carlos jokingly told Evie, making her laugh. “Oh my gosh can you imagine though!” Evie jokingly told Carlos back, making them both share a look as they started laughing.

“Honestly though it is kinda creepy,” Carlos told Evie, making her nod. “Wanna know something even creepier! I’m living with a foster family and I’ve never met my real family!” Evie told Carlos, making him look at her in shock.

“Wait actually!” Carlos screamed out making Evie nod. “Yeah!” Evie told Carlos, making him look at her in shock again.

“Okay this is seriously insane! Do you think we actually could be secret twins or something!” Carlos screamed out. “Maybe! Oh maybe we can get a DNA test and see if we’re related!” Evie screamed out making Carlos nod excitedly.

“Yeah that would be cool!” Carlos screamed out, but before Evie could say anything more Ava came over and dragged Carlos away. “Carlos! There you are! Come on! Mal has been asking for you all morning and she’s not having a very good day right now since she just started treatment!” Ava told Carlos, making him nod as he waved bye to Evie and followed after Ava to Mal’s room.

“Yeah I know I was just about to come see her but I accidentally ran into this girl and Ava it’s insane! We are exactly the same age and we have exactly the same birthday! And guess what she’s in foster care! How insane is that! And she looks like a younger you but with blue hair!” Carlos told Evie excitedly as he was loving the possibility of having another sister and not just another sister, but a twin. 

Ava just rolled her eyes as she looked at Carlos. “Okay and what are you getting at?” Ava asked Carlos as she didn’t feel like playing along with his silly games right now when she had a two year old in the hospital that just started chemo. 

Carlos just laughed as he looked at his big sister. “What if she’s like my secret long lost twin or something! How awesome would that be!” Carlos screamed out excitedly making Ava just roll her eyes again.

“Okay you have lost your mind! I was there the day you were born and I saw all the ultrasound pictures! There was no second baby!” Ava screamed out as she really did think Carlos was going insane.

Carlos just smiled as he looked at his sister. “Yeah but sometimes they can hide and stuff and not show up on an ultrasound and Ava you were 6 maybe you just forgot!” Carlos told Ava trying to convince her that he wasn’t crazy. 

Ava just groaned as she looked at Carlos and stopped walking. “Okay so hypothetically speaking mom and dad give birth to two babies and get rid of one while still keeping the other and nobody ever knew!” Ava told Carlos trying to show him how insane he sounded.

Carlos just laughed though as he nodded. “Yeah!” Carlos told Ava, making her groan again. “You’re insane! You don’t have a twin! I’ll admit it’s a crazy coincidence but that’s all it is!” Ava told Carlos, making him sigh. 

“Maybe you’re right! But I still think it could be true!” Carlos told Ava who rolled her eyes. “There’s no way!” Ava told Carlos again, making him smirk. “But it could be!” Carlos told Ava again as he walked into Mal’s room and smiled at her.

“Mama an Cawos!” The small girl screamed out when she saw Ava and Carlos enter her room. Carlos just smiled as he looked at his baby sister. “Hey pup!” Carlos told Mal, making her giggle a little.

“We go howm?” The small girl asked Carlos, making him sigh. “No pup not yet,” Carlos told the toddler, making her cry as she just wanted to go home. “I wan go howm!” The two year old cried out making Ava sigh as she looked at Mal.

“Shh I know Mal trust me I want to go home too! I want to go home so badly, but we can’t yet. We have to stay a little longer, so you can get your new medicine,” Ava told Mal, making her keep crying.

“I no wike id!” Mal screamed out making Ava sigh. “I know Mal, but you need it,” Ava told the small girl, making her cry. “Id ma me few ba!” The toddler cried out making Ava sigh again as she hated doing this, but it needed to be done. 

“I know Mal but you need it! Mal I am going to tell you something okay,” Ava told the toddler making her nod. “Otay!” Mal told Ava who sighed. “Mal you are sick,” Ava told the toddler, making her get upset. “No!” Mal screamed out making Ava sigh.

“Yes Mal you are and in order to get better you need to take this medicine,” Ava told the toddler, but Mal just started crying again. “I no wike id! Id huws!” The young girl screamed out making Ava start to lose it.

“I know Mal, but Mal if you don’t take this medicine you’re gonna die!” Ava screamed out as she couldn’t hold back anymore. Mal just looked at Ava in shock as she started sobbing.

“No! No wanna!” The small girl screamed out making Carlos quickly jump into action as he looked at Mal. “Mal you are not going to die Ava is just exaggerating okay. You’re gonna be fine. But you do have to take the medicine to get better and become a big doggy like your big brother!” Carlos told the toddler making her giggle.

“Otay!” Mal told Carlos, making him smile a little. “Otay? So you promise you’re gonna let the doctors and everyone else give you your medicine,” Carlos asked Mal who nodded. “Pomise!” The small girl told Carlos, making him smile.

“Okay good! Now Ava and I will be right back okay,” Carlos told the toddler who nodded as he dragged Ava out of the room. “What are you doing!” Ava screamed out making Carlos roll his eyes. “Really Ava! Did You Have to say that!” Carlos screamed out making her sigh.

“Carlos it’s true! If she refuses the treatment then she dies!” Ava screamed out as Carlos was acting like this was no big deal when it was. Carlos just groaned as he looked at Ava.

“I know that Ava but you can’t tell her that! She’s only 2! She doesn’t understand what’s going on!” Carlos screamed out making Ava nod. “I KNOW THAT!” Ava screamed out causing Carlos to get upset as well.

“THEN WHY DID YOU SAY IT!” Carlos screamed out making Ava start crying again. “I DON’T KNOW! I DON’T KNOW OKAY! I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M DOING! I’VE NEVER HAD TO DEAL WITH SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE! I WANT DAD! THIS SHOULD BE MOM AND DAD’S JOB! I AM 20 YEARS OLD! I DON’T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THIS! IT’S TOO MUCH! I WISH OUR PARENTS WEREN’T SUCH!” Ava started ranting out, but Carlos stopped her.

“Ava I know! But you,” Carlos started to say, but Ava rolled her eyes as she had already heard it from everyone else. “Can’t give up! Yeah I know! I’ve heard it from everyone already! How can I not give up when she wants to give up!” Ava told Carlos making him sigh as Ava wasn’t thinking about how Mal feels.

“Ava, she doesn’t want to give up! She doesn’t understand what’s happening! She’s a toddler! You have to explain to her in a nice way what is going on! Don’t just automatically give up and tell her that she’s gonna die! That’s gonna scare her more!” Carlos told Ava who nodded as she looked at him.

“I know that! See I suck at parenting! You are way better than I am! You managed to calm her down and convince her to let the doctors do their thing!” Ava told Carlos making him sigh as he looked at his big sister.

“Ava you don’t suck at parenting! You’re not trying right now! You already gave up! I can see it! AVA...DO...NOT... GIVE...UP!” Carlos told Ava, making her nod. 

“Yeah you’re right. I need to stop being selfish. This isn’t about me, this is about our sister. I’m gonna go back in there and explain to her in a better way what’s going on,” Ava told Carlos, making him laugh.

“Look at that my sister is back! Well I’ll be back!” Carlos told Ava making her look at him like he was insane. “And where are you going!” Ava asked her brother, making him laugh. “Oh I’m just going to take Evie to get a DNA test!” Carlos told Evie as if what he was saying was totally normal.

“Are you serious!” Ava screamed out making Carlos smile. “Yeah!” Carlos told Ava, making her shake her head no. “No you’re not!” Ava told Carlos, making him laugh.

“Yeah we agreed! I told her I would help her find her birth family!” Carlos told Ava, making Ava look at him like he was insane again as he was being serious about this whole twin thing.

“Carlos that’s ridiculous! You do not have a twin!” Ava told Carlos, making him look at her. “Come on can’t we at least rule it out first! You never know! I mean think about it mom and dad were sneaky people! Dad got away with stealing money from clients! What makes you think they couldn’t get away with giving a baby up for adoption and keeping one!” Carlos told Ava making her groan as she knew Carlos wasn’t going to give up on this.

“You know what I don’t care! Go ahead play your little game but don’t expect to get the results you want because you do not have a twin!” Ava screamed out making Carlos get excited. “Okay great thanks Ava!” Carlos screamed out as he ran off to go find Evie.

Ava just rolled her eyes before putting on a fake smile and going back in to see Mal. While Ava was doing that Carlos found Evie as he ran up to her. “Hey! My sister said we can go!” Carlos told Evie, making her get excited.

“Really!” Evie asked excitedly, making Carlos laugh. “Yeah!” Carlos told Evie, making her laugh. “Okay great come on! Thank you so much for doing this!” Evie told Carlos as she was getting closer to finding her birth family. 

Carlos just laughed as he looked at Evie. “No problem! I mean I wanna know too!” Carlos told Evie, making her laugh as she nodded. “Okay come on let’s go!” Evie told Carlos excitedly as they both made their way to get Evie and him a DNA test to see if they were twins or not. 

  
  



	16. Long Lost Twins Reunited Again

Carlos quickly ran into the cancer center as he looked around for Evie. It had been a few days since the both of them had taken a DNA test to see if they were twins and he just got the results back.

Carlos was extremely excited as he needed to tell Evie right away. He was supposed to go see his baby sister, but he figured he could see her after seeing Evie as Evie deserved to know the results too.

Carlos smiled when he found Evie who was working. “Hey! I got the results!” Carlos screamed out excitedly as he held the papers up to Evie making her drop the supplies she was holding as she looked at him. 

“Dang it I just spilled all the supplies again! Okay I seriously need to rethink this whole volunteer thing,” Evie told Carlos as she quickly started cleaning up the supplies she dropped and Carlos just laughed as he helped her.

“Thanks! So you got the results!” Evie told Carlos after they finished cleaning up all the supplies that Evie had dropped when Carlos surprised her. Carlos just smiled as he looked at Evie. “Yeah I did!” 

Carlos excitedly told Evie, making her get both nervous and excited as she looked at him. She was excited about the possibility of finally getting the answers she had been wanting ever since she was old enough to talk, but she was nervous that she would be getting her hopes up for nothing. Evie would be devastated if it turned out to just be another dead end. 

“What do they say!” Evie asked Carlos making him look at her. “I don’t know I wanted to open it together,” Carlos told Evie who nodded. “Yeah that’s a good idea!” Evie told Carlos who nodded.

“Okay on the count of three we look!” Carlos told Evie nervously, making her nod. “Got it!” Evie told Carlos who nodded. “Okay 1…” Carlos told Evie who nodded. “Two,” Evie told Carlos who nodded again as he looked at her. 

“3! Open it!” Carlos told Evie who nodded as she opened the results and read them making her smile as she couldn’t believe what she was reading. Carlos just watched Evie as he became even more curious about the results. 

“What does it say!” Carlos asked Evie, making her laugh as she hugged him tightly. “Okay what are you doing,” Carlos asked Evie, making her laugh. “Hugging my brother what do you think I’m doing,” Evie playfully told Carlos and laughed as she watched his confused face come to the realization of what she was saying. 

“Brother what are you...Wait! We’re actually twins!” Carlos screamed out excitedly as he just found out he had another sister. Evie just laughed as she was feeling so excited as well. She had been looking for her birth family for as long as she could remember and she had finally found them. 

She was finally reunited with her birth family and she had siblings. Evie had always wanted siblings. It was like a dream come true. Evie just laughed as she hugged onto Carlos tighter as she couldn’t help it.

“Yeah we are! It says so right here! This is awesome! I found my birth family!” Evie screamed out as she was having the best day ever. After years and years of searching and failing she had finally done it.

Carlos just laughed as he released himself from Evie’s grip. “I know! And I have another sister! I have a twin! This is so cool! It’s like a movie!” Carlos told Evie excitedly, making her laugh again as she was just so happy.

Evie stopped laughing though when she remembered something as she started getting sad as she remembered that Carlos wasn’t her only sibling. 

Ava who she was pretty sure hated her was also her big sister and the saddest of all was the fact that she had a baby sister now. Something she had always wanted, but her baby sister had cancer. 

Evie couldn’t believe how life worked. She finally gets something good, but also bad as she now has to deal with the fact that she has a baby sister with cancer. Evie just started crying a little bit as she started thinking about the small girl that was really her baby sister.

She barely knew anything about the small girl, but she already loved her and she hates the fact that she barely knows her sister and now she is going to have to watch her suffer knowing that she is her sister.

Carlos just watched in concern as he pulled Evie close to him as he didn’t know what happened. One minutes she was laughing and happy and now she was sad and crying. “Evie, are you okay what happened?” Carlos asked Evie in concern making her snap back to reality as she realized she was crying.

Evie just quickly wiped her tears away as she looked at Carlos. “Yeah it’s just that I realized now I know that I have a baby sister who has cancer. And it just really hit me. It honestly hurts right now,” Evie told Carlos sadly, making him nod sadly in understanding.

“Yeah me too. But trust me Evie our sister is a fighter! This isn’t her first health scare!” Carlos told Evie trying to make her and himself feel better as he knew that they needed to stay optimistic and it helped to tell himself that as it helped him cope.

Evie just nodded as she looked at him surprise. “Wait really?” Evie asked Carlos in shock as she honestly didn’t understand how he could be so calm and optimistic about this. She basically just found out and she already felt like her world was over whenever she thought about the tiny girl.

And she barely even knew Mal. Carlos just nodded as he looked at Evie. “Yeah! She’s had a few! She had one really bad one when she was only 3 weeks old, but she ended up being okay and fighting because she’s a fighter!” Carlos told Evie trying to stay optimistic for all of them and he wanted to keep reminding himself of that as it helped him keep believing it.

Evie just nodded as she looked at him. “Oh wow I never realized how much she went through poor baby. She really is a fighter though huh,” Evie told Carlos who nodded. 

“Yeah she’s always been a fighter. She doesn’t go down easily even though she’s so tiny and young. And I’m so lucky to have her and you are too now,” Carlos told Evie who nodded.

“Yeah I wish I could have grown up with you guys!” Evie told Carlos, making him start laughing at how ridiculous he thought that sounded. His family life was definitely not the best. Even before his parents abandoned them they were never around and it was basically him and Ava on their own even before they officially lost their parents.

“Trust me you’re better off. Our mom and dad are on the run because our dad is a criminal! And 2 years ago they gave Mal and I up! I had to look after her for 2 years before coming back here and letting Ava take over! And even before that they weren’t the best either and they were rarely ever home,” Carlos told Evie, making her look at him in surprise.

“Oh wow! Our parents sound very um…” Evie began, but Carlos cut her off. “Yeah our parents have always been pretty bad,” Carlos told Evie and she just nodded in agreement as she didn’t really know what to say to that.

“Yeah I can see that wow! Wait, you took care of Mal? I thought Ava was in charge?” Evie asked Carlos, making him laugh. 

“It’s a complicated situation, but yeah Ava was technically our guardian on legal papers, but she sent me to a boarding school called Auradon Prep and she made me take Mal with me. She wanted us to live with our cousin Jay,” Carlos told Evie, making her look at him in shock. 

“Oh wow! I had no idea! I thought she was raising Mal,” Evie told Carlos who just laughed as he looked at her.

“Like I said it’s complicated. She’s raising Mal now and technically me too even though I can take care of myself. And the reason she did that was to protect us from the media and stuff because they kept trying to get info on us since our dad is a wanted criminal,” Carlos told Evie.

“Oh wow! I’m really sorry that you guys went through all that,” Evie told Carlos sadly, making him nod before deciding to change the subject. “Yeah so enough about my traumatic childhood. What's your foster home like?” Carlos jokingly told Evie, making her laugh.

“Alright well I guess it is my turn. Well I’ve been living with my foster mom for as long as I can remember. I call her The Evil Queen because she acts just like her! She’s all obsessed with looks and getting the best guy! And she just doesn’t get that I’m not like that! I like designing and I like school! Especially Chemistry!” Evie rambled out making Carlos perk up at the mention of her liking designing as their big sister Ava was a fashion designer too.

“Wait, you like designing!” Carlos asked Evie, making her laugh. “Yeah it’s my favorite thing to do! And I want to be a fashion designer when I’m older! Why?” Evie asked her new brother as she didn’t understand why he was so excited over that.

Carlos just laughed as he looked at Evie just thinking about the crazy coincidence that was happening. “Oh just because Ava is a fashion designer too! And she’s going to BHU for it!” Carlos told Evie making her gasp as Ava was literally living her dream.

Evie’s dream school was BHU and she wants to be a fashion designer which is exactly what Ava is doing right now. “NO WAY! THAT IS LITERALLY MY DREAM!” Evie screamed out making Carlos laugh at his new sister’s enthusiasm. 

Evie was like a weird mix of both his sisters and he was really liking that. Evie was super happy and energetic like Mal, but she was pretty smart and loved fashion designing like Ava. 

Carlos smiled when he remembered something else that he heard Evie say. “Yeah so you like chemistry? I think I remember you saying that,” Carlos told Evie as he hated chemistry and he was horrible at it.

Evie just laughed as she looked at her new brother again. “Yeah it’s my best subject! I always ace everything! And I always answer all the questions!” Evie told Carlos excitedly as she loved bragging about her accomplishments. 

Carlos just smiled as he looked at Evie. “Really! Can you help me then because I suck and Ava is always yelling at me for it!” Carlos told Evie, making her laugh as she was loving getting to know her brother, but she got sad again when she realized she pretty much only knew stuff about Carlos and she knew basically nothing about her sisters.

“Yeah sure I can help you with chemistry. But you have to help me get closer to Ava and Mal. I want to know my sisters too, but I think Ava hates me,” Evie told Carlos, making him smile and roll his eyes.

“Nah Ava doesn’t hate you. That’s just how she is. And it’s worse now because she’s stressed out. Plus she thinks I’m being crazy with us being twins but I bet if we showed her this she would accept you! She takes family seriously even if she doesn’t really show it. Trust me,” Carlos told Evie as he felt bad that Evie felt as though her own sister didn’t like her.

Carlos was used to Ava, so he understood her and how she showed love, but Evie on the other hand barely knew Ava, so she just took Ava’s attitude as Ava hating her. “Really,” Evie asked in surprise making Carlos laugh a little. 

“Yeah! Come on let’s go show Ava!” Carlos told Evie who just nodded nervously as she was trusting Carlos even though she was afraid that Ava would react badly. As soon as they entered the room Carlos ran over to Ava who was studying while the toddler was sleeping as she was feeling tired again from chemo.

“Hey Ava!” Carlos screamed out trying to get his big sister’s attention. Ava just quickly looked up at him in frustration as she was trying to study and their baby sister was sleeping again because she wasn’t feeling well.

“Quiet! Mal is sleeping right now and she's still not feeling well from Chemo. And I’m trying to study because I really need this degree now more than ever, so I can get a stable job to support us and pay for treatment!” Ava screamed out as she was frustrated and stressed and Carlos was still playing around and acting like everything was fine when it wasn’t.

Their sister was only two years old and having to put poison in her body to live. And she was only 20 years old while still being in college and having no job other than her youtube channel that she just kinda abandoned after taking in her siblings again.

She was struggling yet their brother was still acting like everything was happy and normal. And playing stupid games. “Okay but I just wanted to show you something!” Carlos told Ava excitedly, making her sigh as she wasn’t in the mood to play along with Carlos.

“What did you do?” Ava asked her brother, making him smile. “I got the results! Ava I have a twin!” Carlos screamed out excitedly causing Ava to roll her eyes. “Carlos I told you…” Ava began to tell her brother again not wanting to play into his ridiculous fantasy. 

Carlos quickly cut her off by shoving the papers in her face anyway. “See, look it’s right there!” Carlos told Ava as he pointed to the results. Ava just rolled her eyes as she looked at Carlos. 

“Alright fine I’ll read the stupid paper, but I’m telling you that… holy!” Ava began to say, but stopped when she read the papers and saw that Carlos was right. Carlos just smiled as he looked at Ava. “Told you so!” Carlos told Ava as he was enjoying his victory over her. 

He had proved her wrong and he got another sister as a bonus. Ava just continued to stare at the papers in shock as she couldn’t believe this was really happening. 

“Great, another problem I have to deal with! Hey life you win! Anything else you wanna throw at us!” Ava screamed out in frustration and anger as she seriously couldn’t believe this was happening. 

  
  



	17. Three Siblings Become Four

Carlos just stared at his big sister in complete shock at how she was acting. “Ava!” Carlos screamed out as he could see Evie looked heart broken at the way Ava reacted to finding out she was their sister and he didn’t like that.

“What!” Ava screamed out as she really wasn’t having the best week and she hated that life just kept throwing more and more curve balls at them and she was getting sick of it.

Now there was another kid to add into the mix and she was already struggling now, but she knew it would be wrong to just ignore Evie completely as it wasn’t Evie’s fault that their parents gave her up at birth.

Evie just sighed sadly as she watched Carlos and Ava argue as she knew it was obvious that Ava didn’t like her and she was ruining things. “Told you she hates me I’ll just go. It was nice getting to know you Carlos,” Evie told her brother sadly as she didn’t want to cause any problems.

Carlos just looked at his new sister in shock as he didn’t want her to leave and she had just as much right to be there as they did as she was their sister too. “Evie don’t go! You have a right to be here! You’re family!” Carlos screamed out as he didn’t like that Ava was making Evie feel like an outsider.

Evie just shook her head no as she didn’t want to ruin anything. “Yeah but I don’t wanna cause any problems. I’ll just go now,” Evie told Carlos again as she began to leave again, but got stopped by Ava this time.

“Wait!” Ava screamed out as she realized she was making her sister feel unwelcome when she wasn’t trying to. She was still trying to process it all, but in the meantime she was hurting her sister and she didn’t like that.

Evie just stopped and looked at Ava nervously as she didn't want to get her hopes up. “Yeah?” Evie asked Ava as she was afraid that it was a false alarm, but she smiled when Ava gave her a small smile.

“Carlos is right you’re family. I’m sorry for acting like that, it's just this is all so much!” Ava told Evie, making her smile a little bit as she realized that Ava wasn’t going to kick her out and that she was actually accepting her.

“Yeah I get it and I can help!” Evie told Ava as she could see Ava was struggling a lot and she wanted to help out her big sister. Ava just nodded in agreement as she was starting to think about what it would look like to have another sibling.

“Well at least you’re Carlos’s age and not another Mal. I don’t think I could handle another toddler!” Ava jokingly told Evie trying to make her feel more welcomed as she was feeling bad for how she treated her before.

Evie just laughed as she sat down on one of the chairs in the room as she was starting to feel like she belonged. “Yeah I get that! Toddlers are adorable, but such handfuls!” Evie jokingly told Ava making her and Carlos laugh.

“Tell me about it!” Both Carlos and Ava said at the same time making all three of them start laughing. “You better be a good student because I’m not dealing with two misbehaved kids and a toddler!” Ava playfully told Evie after they all started calming down from their laughing fit.

Evie just looked at her big sister in shock as she was trying to tell if Ava was being serious or joking around. “Wait what?” Evie asked Ava in shock as she couldn’t tell if Ava was messing with her or being serious.

Ava just laughed as she could see Evie looked completely caught off guard by her statement. “Oh come on I promised myself I wouldn’t let my siblings go into the system and now that I know you’re my sister that rule applies to you too!” Ava told her little sister, making Evie get excited while she was still in shock. 

Evie hated her foster mom and she couldn’t believe she was finally getting away from her and getting to live with her real family. “Wait you’re gonna take me away from my foster mom!” Evie screamed out as it just seemed way too good to be true.

Ava just laughed again as she was actually starting to enjoy the idea of having another sister that was closer in age to her. “Yeah but only if you want to and you have to behave because I can’t handle another misbehaved kid right now!” Ava told Evie, making Evie smile.

“Oh my gosh this is amazing! And I promise you won’t regret it! And I can help you with money! I have a small business. I don’t have a name yet for it, but I have been making a lot of money from it!” Evie rambled out excitedly as she couldn’t believe this was really happening.

First she finds her birth family after years and years of searching and now her birth family wanted her to live with them. It really was like a dream come true and she was finally getting away from the “Evil Queen” as she liked to call her foster mom. 

Ava just laughed again as she looked at Evie. “Really you have business? What business,” Ava asked Evie in shock as Evie was only 14. Evie just laughed as she looked at her shocked sister.

“Yeah! And I’m a fashion designer!” Evie told Ava, making her look at Evie in shock. “No way I am too!” Ava screamed out as she couldn’t help it. It was cool having another person to talk to about designing and fashion. 

Mal was too young, Carlos was a boy, and all her friends didn’t care. It was also nice having a sister that she could actually have normal conversations with not that she didn’t love bonding with the toddler, but it wasn’t the same as talking with Evie.

Evie just laughed as she looked at Ava. “Yeah I know Carlos told me! You are literally living my dream!” Evie screamed out making Ava laugh. “Really,” Ava asked her sister, making her laugh.

“Yeah I literally wish I was you!” Evie screamed out making Ava laugh at how ridiculous she thought that sounded. Ava was struggling right now and she didn’t even want to be herself at this point.

“Well I don’t think you actually wanna be me trust me. I’m struggling right now. Heck I don’t even want to be me right now,” Ava told Evie as she motioned towards the sleeping two year old.

Evie just looked over to where Ava was pointing as she nodded sadly in understanding. “Yeah I totally get it. This sucks,” Evie told Ava who just nodded, but before she could respond the small girl began to stir as she woke up.

“Hewo!” The small two year old screamed out when she saw Evie again. She didn’t really know who Evie was, but she seemed nice. Evie just smiled a little as she looked at the confused toddler.

“Hey cuties,” Evie told the toddler, making her just look back and forth between Evie and Ava as she didn’t know what to think. “You wook wike mama!” Mal finally said out loud as she continued to look back and forth between her two sisters.

Evie just laughed as long with the others as they couldn’t help, but find Mal’s confusion adorable. “I look like your mama?” Evie playfully asked the toddler, making her nod. Evie just laughed again as she looked at the small girl.

“Well that’s because I’m your sister too,” Evie told the toddler, making Mal immediately shake her head no as she didn’t believe Evie. Evie just laughed again as she was finding this fun.

“Yeah I am,” Evie playfully told the toddler again, making her look at Evie in awe. “Weawy!” The young two year old asked Evie in shock making Evie laugh again. “Yeah!” Evie told the toddler in her best over the top excited voice making Mal laugh.

“Yay!” The small girl screamed out excitedly as she realized Evie was telling the truth and she liked having Evie there as Evie was nice and she reminded her of Carlos, but she looked like her mama. 

Ava just smiled as she looked at the toddler remembering something that she had been told earlier after getting the results of Mal’s last test. “Hey Mal guess what!” Ava told the small girl making her turn her attention from Evie and look at her.

“Wa?” The small girl asked Ava, making her smile. “We can go home tomorrow!” Ava told the toddler excitedly making Mal get really excited as she couldn’t wait to go home. “Yay!” Mal screamed out happily making Ava laugh while Carlos just looked at her in shock as he couldn’t believe it.

“Wait actually!” Carlos screamed out excitedly making Ava laugh as she was excited too even though she knew this was far from over and they were still only in the beginning.

“Yeah but she has to continue to take her medicine at home. And we still have to make trips here a lot since we’re doing outpatient treatment. But for now we’re going home tomorrow,” Ava told Carlos as she was so sick of the hospital and couldn’t wait to be home even if she knew this was still far from over.

Carlos just smiled as he looked at Ava. “Awesome! Can Evie come with us!” Carlos told Ava as he was excited, but he realized that meant they wouldn’t see Evie everyday. Ava just sighed as she looked at Carlos.

She wanted Evie to stay with them too, but she also knew that it was a process. “I have to talk to the social worker about getting custody first,” Ava told Carlos, making him groan as he wanted his sister to live with them already.

“Seriously!” Carlos groaned out making Ava roll her eyes as Carlos didn’t realize that it was a process and wouldn’t be automatic. 

“Yeah Carlos that’s how it works, but if her foster mom is okay with her coming over then I don’t have a problem with it,” Ava told Carlos trying to compromise as she wanted to see her sister too, but she knew she couldn’t just take Evie without persimmon as that would be considered kidnapping. 

Evie just groaned as she realized that meant she would never see her birth family until Ava did get custody as her foster mom would never allow it. “Well that’s not happening my foster mom hates me!” Evie groaned out making Carlos look at her in shock.

“She does,” Carlos asked his sister, wanting to hear more. Evie just sighed as she looked at Carlos. “Yeah but it’s okay. I’ve accepted it,” Evie told Carlos making him gasp as he looked at Ava just wanting to get his sister out of the system.

“That’s horrible! Ava, you have to get custody now!” Carlos screamed out making Ava nod as she hated the fact that despite her vowing to keep her siblings out of foster care her sister ended up in foster care anyway. 

“Okay I’m gonna go call the social worker and request to file for custody,” Ava told Carlos as she just wanted to right the wrong that her parents did by putting Evie up for adoption. 

“Right now!” Carlos screamed out making Ava laugh as she grabbed her phone and the number to Evie’s social worker that Evie gave her. “Yeah I’m gonna call now. Watch Mal for me!” Ava screamed out making the twins nod as they looked at her.

“Got it!” The twins screamed out at the same time making them both start laughing again as they said the same thing at the exact same time. “Jinx!” The twins screamed out at the same time again making them laugh again.

“Okay that’s creepy! Try not to use your weirdo twin powers around Mal you might scare her!” Ava playfully told the twins, making them all laugh as Ava left the room to go call Evie’s social worker and request for custody of her sister. 

  
  



	18. More Sibling Bonding In A Hospital

Once Ava left to go talk to the social worker Carlos just smiled as he looked at his sleepy baby sister who was just cuddling with her dragon and sucking on her pacifier while watching Dragon Tales on her tablet.

“Mal are you excited to go home?” Carlos playfully told the toddler as he was excited. He hated staying in the hospital and he wanted his baby sister home with them all. The small toddler just smiled and nodded her head as she couldn’t wait to go home.

She hated the scary hospital with all the scary medicine and doctors that were poking at her and putting scary things on her. “Ya!” Mal screamed out making Carlos and Evie laugh at how adorable Mal was.

“But you know you still have to take your medicine at home right,” Carlos told the toddler as he wanted her to understand that treatment wasn’t over as it was literally only the beginning and they still had a long way to go.

“Yucky!” Mal screamed out, making Evie and Carlos laugh as Evie sat down next to the toddler and picked her up placing her on her lap. “Yeah it is yucky huh. But you know what’s even more yucky?” Evie asked the toddler playfully hoping to convince the toddler in a nice way to keep taking the medicine.

Evie loved kids and that was part of the reason she chose to volunteer at the children’s cancer center because she wanted to help young kids that were going through a lot. A lot of the younger patients loved her and she loved getting to make them smile.

In fact she had met one little girl that she has made a huge impact on. Her name is Dizzy and she technically wasn’t supposed to be interacting with the patient much she never followed that rule though.

Dizzy was a lot like her and Dizzy had become like her own little sister. In fact they still see each other all the time even though Dizzy is no longer in the cancer center as she is in remission and had been for almost a year now.

Evie always makes sure to visit her and talk to her and she is just so happy that Dizzy is doing well. And she has hope that Mal is going to be like Dizzy and reach remission. Evie was brought out her thoughts by the toddler who wanted to know what Evie was trying to say, but Evie had just stopped talking.

“Wa! Wa Ebie! Wa mow yucky den yucky mecine!” The small girl screamed out snapping Evie back into focus as she laughed and hugged the toddler close to her. “Oh sorry Mal! Being in this hospital is more yucky right,” Evie playfully told the toddler who nodded.

“Okay well then if you wanna spend as little time here as possible you gotta keep taking that yucky medicine. Deal Mal,” Evie playfully told the toddler again making the small girl laugh. 

“Otay Ebie!” The small toddler told Evie, making her laugh again as she bounced the toddler a little bit in her knee, making the two year old giggle. 

Carlos just laughed as he watched Evie play around with Mal as if she had always been in her life. “ Wow you’re really good with her! It’s like you’ve always been here,” Carlos told Evie, making her laugh as she bounced the toddler more.

I love kids! They’re just so adorable! And I’ve always wanted a little sister or brother. It sucks that she has to go through this,” Evie told Carlos sadly making him nod before getting confident again as he wouldn’t give up.

“Yeah but she’s gonna be a fighter! Right pup! You’re gonna be a fighter against your sickness! And you’re gonna kick cancer’s butt!” Carlos told the small girl, making her laugh at how funny her big brother was, as she didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Yeah!” Mal screamed out while giggling. She didn’t know what Carlos was saying, but she trusted her big brother and he seemed excited about whatever he was talking about. Carlos just laughed as he high fived the toddler and then looked at Evie.

“And now it’s 4 of us instead of only 3! Because you’re here now too!” Carlos told Evie, making her smile as she loved how she was included with her family even though she didn’t even know who they were for 14 years.

“Yeah you’re right! Hey I think I just thought of the perfect name for my business! Evie’s 4 Hearts! Since there’s four of us! I gotta write that down!” Evie screamed out excitedly as she had been trying for weeks now to come up with the perfect name for her business, but just couldn’t.

She wanted a meaningful name and not just some stupid business name, but she couldn’t think of anything that was meaningful enough until now. It was the perfect name. It would represent her family and the love they all have for each other. 

Carlos just laughed as he looked at Evie feeling honored that she would include them in her business name. “I love it!” Carlos screamed out making Evie laugh. “Thanks! Mal what do you think?” Evie jokingly asked the toddler in her lap making the small girl laugh.

“Dwagin!” The small two year old randomly screamed out making Evie laugh as she had no clue what Mal was talking about, but she found it adorable anyway. “Dwagin?” Evie playfully told the toddler, making the small girl nod excitedly.

“Ya! Dwagin!” Mal screamed out again making Carlos laugh as he looked at their confused sister. “She’s obsessed with dragons! Right Mal,” Carlos told his sisters making the toddler laugh as she held up her dragon toy.

“Dwagin! Woaw!” Mal screamed out as she held up her dragon and pretended to make it fly around in the air making Evie laugh. “That’s good to know! So what else does she like?” Evie asked Carlos trying to learn more about her new family.

Carlos just smiled as he could tell Evie was trying to learn more about them all just like how he was trying to learn more about her too. “Well she loves tons of stuff! She’s obsessed with the color purple for start!” Carlos told Evie, making her look at the purple haired toddler dressed in a purple hospital gown while sucking on a purple pacifier and clinging to a purple dragon stuffed animal.

And also holding a purple bottle in her hands. Evie just laughed as she looked at Carlos as it was so obvious that the toddler loved purple. “Yeah I kinda got that. What else?” Evie playfully told Carlos, making him laugh.

“Yeah it is pretty obvious huh! Alright well let’s see what else does she love? Oh yeah she loves Strawberries! She only drinks out of a bottle and she loves pacifiers even though we’ve been trying to get her off of them! Oh and coloring and drawing she loves that stuff too!” Carlos told Evie, making her laugh as she loved getting to know her baby sister.

“Cool! Also just curious why does she have purple hair,” Evie asked Carlos, making him laugh as he hadn’t explained that to her. 

“Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that didn’t I! Well let’s just say it’s not a good idea to leave a baby with a 12 year old! I was dying my hair and Mal started crying because she saw purple hair pictures at the hair salon and she freaked out because she wanted it. And me being an idiot kid agreed! And she loves it!” Carlos told Evie, making her laugh. “Yeah I can see that and it’s cool! I mean I dyed my hair blue so I totally get it!” Evie told Carlos, making him laugh.

“Oh yeah! I totally forgot your hair is blue!” Carlos screamed out in embarrassment making Evie laugh as she looked at her brother. “It’s fine I forget my hair is blue sometimes too and I’m the one that dyes it! So anyway, what kinda stuff do you like!” Evie told Carlos wanting to get to know him more.

Carlos just laughed as he looked at Evie. “Well I love dogs! My favorite colors are red, black, and white. I suck at chemistry! I love technology and video games! And I have a girlfriend named Jane!” Carlos told Evie, making her smile as she was learning more about what her brother liked and bonding more. 

“Cool! Well I should tell you some more about me then. I love sewing! I’m obsessed with fashion! I absolutely love apples! Blue is my all time favorite color hence the hair and outfit! I love shopping and volunteering! And my dream school is BHU obviously and I obviously wanna be a fashion designer!” Evie told Carlos making him laugh as he was getting to bond with his twin.

“Cool! This is so cool! I have another sister! And you seem awesome!” Carlos screamed out excitedly as he was loving having another kid in the family that was his age. Ava was way too old to understand him all the time and Mal was basically a baby. 

He was loving that he had another person his exact same age that he could talk to and bond with. And who would understand him and what he was going through and Evie was feeling the same way.

“Thanks and I’m excited too! I finally am reunited with my birth family!” Evie screamed out excitedly making Carlos laugh. “Yeah I know!” Carlos screamed out happily. Before anyone could say anything else Ava came back in after talking to Evie’s social worker.

Evie didn’t even hesitate as she ran over to Ava wanting to know what her social worker said. Evie had been trying for years to get away from her foster home, but her social worker just kept pushing her complaints away and making her stay. Which was making Evie worried that she would do that again.

“What did she say! Please please please tell me she’s letting me leave now because I can’t stand another day with The Evil Queen! Did you know she’s trying to make me a model! I don’t wanna be a model, I want to be the one making the clothes that the models wear!” Evie rambled out desperately as she couldn’t live another day with her horrible foster mom and she just wanted out. 

Ava just looked at her new sister who was freaking out. “Okay calm down. She said that …” Ava began causing Evie to start feeling nervous as she waited in anticipation to find out whether or not she could live with her birth family or not. 

  
  



	19. Evie Queen Becomes Evie Jalali

Evie just lost all her patience as she looked at Ava. “So what did she say!” Evie screamed out as she was desperate. She would hate having to live with her foster mom again especially after finding her birth family.

Ava just laughed as she looked at her sister. “She’s working on it okay. She approved, but it’s not instant,” Ava told Evie, making Evie get really excited as she started jumping up and down like a little girl.

“Wait really! Yes! Yes! Yes! I’m going to live with my biological family! This is the best day of my life!” Evie screamed out excitedly making the toddler look at Evie in confusion at the word Evie used.

“Wa da me?” The small girl asked out loud making Ava laugh as she looked at the adorable and confused toddler. “Mal a biological family is a family that is related by blood and DNA!” Ava told the toddler, making her turn her more confused.

“Wa da?” The small girl asked her big sister again making Ava laugh as she realized it would be impossible to explain that to a toddler. “I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Ava told the toddler, but quickly held back tears as she realized she didn’t even know if Mal was going to get older. 

Ava was going to correct herself when she realized it was better to just keep holding onto the hope that Mal will get older and beat this. The small girl just giggled as she looked at Ava. “Otay!” Mal screamed out as she went back to playing with her toys.

Evie just laughed as she continued to celebrate her freedom. “I still can’t believe this! I’m finally gonna get away from The Evil Queen!” Evie screamed out excitedly making Ava laugh as she looked at her sister.

“Evil Queen?” Ava asked the younger girl making Evie nod. “Yeah because that’s basically what she is! I swear! She tried to starve me once because she said I was getting too fat but luckily my best friends helped me!” Evie told Ava making her start crying again as she realized she failed Evie too even though she didn’t even know Evie existed.

Ava hated how much their parents ruined literally every single one of their lives. “Oh wow I’m so sorry that mom and dad gave you up. I had no clue they had two babies that day. Trust me if I did you never would have ended up in the system!” Ava told Evie as she was really hating her parents.

Evie didn’t deserve to be given up. Evie should have gotten to stay with Carlos. She still couldn’t believe how horrible their parents were. Ava used to see her father as a role model, but the more she was going through things and seeing what damage was being done to her siblings the more she was hating her parents and especially her dad.

Evie just sighed as she looked at Ava. She knew Ava was just trying to make her feel better, but Evie also knew that Ava wouldn’t have been able to stop what happened even if she had known.

“Thanks for that but you were like what 6 or 7 when Carlos and I were born I seriously doubt you could have prevented that from happening,” Evie told Ava, making Carlos laugh as he had grown up with Ava and he knew how stubborn she could be.

“Oh you’re definitely underestimating Ava!” Carlos told his new sister, making Ava roll her eyes as she ruffled his hair playfully.

“Normally I would get upset by that statement but he’s right about that one. If I had known there was a second baby I definitely would have screamed and begged not to lose you,” Ava told Evie, making her smile seeing how much her sister really loved her.

“Well that’s good to know! I swear I thought you hated me!” Evie told Ava a little in embarrassment as she had thought that way about her own sister. Ava just laughed as she hugged Evie.

“Trust me I don’t hate you. Trust me you would know if I hated you. I don’t hold back,” Ava told Evie, making Evie laugh. “Yeah I can vouch for that!” Carlos told Evie joining in as he had seen Ava when she hated someone and it wasn’t pretty.

One time when they were younger there was a kid in Carlos’ class that kept bullying him and pushing him around. Ava had noticed that Carlos had a lot of bruises, but she didn’t question him until he came home with a black eye.

She ended up forcing him to tell her what happened and as soon as Ava heard what happened she beat up that kid in front of everyone at school and made him regret ever hurting him.

Ava had gotten in serious trouble, but that kid never bothered him again after that. Carlos’ was brought back to reality when he heard Evie laugh. “Well that’s good to know! Wow I still can’t believe this is real,” Evie told the others making the toddler who was busy playing with her toys lookup in confusion.

“Why?” The small girl asked Evie, making Evie laugh at the innocent little girl as she was loving being a big sister. “Because cutie I’ve been looking for you guys since way before you were born!” Evie told the toddler as she placed her in her lap again.

Mal just looked at Evie in shock as she was too young to understand that she hadn’t been alive that long. “Wow! Da a wong dim!” The small girl screamed out making Evie laugh as she found it hilarious how Mal thought two years was such a long time.

“Yeah it is huh!” Evie playfully told the toddler making the small girl laugh as she laid her head down on Evie as she was starting to really love Evie and how affectionate she was. “Yeah! Ebie aw you gonna wib wif us?” The small girl asked Evie with hope as she loved Evie and didn’t want Evie to leave.

Evie just smiled as she hugged the small girl close to her just enjoying the feeling as she looked at her. “Yeah I am cutie!” Evie told the toddler making her clap her hands excitedly. “Yay!” The small two year old screamed out making Evie laugh again.

“Yeah I know!” Evie told the toddler making the small girl smile as she picked up her tablet. “Ca you wa Dwagin wif me?” The small toddler asked Evie as she placed the tablet in Evie’s hands making Evie smile.

“Can I watch Dragon with you?” Evie asked the toddler, having no clue what that meant, but the toddler seemed very excited when talking about it. “Ya! Ca you?” Mal asked Evie giving her puppy dog eyes.

Evie just smiled as she looked at the toddler again. “Sure! I would love to watch Dragon with you!” Evie told the toddler, but looked at Ava and Carlos as she mouthed the words what’s dragon making them laugh.

“She’s talking about Dragon Tales. It’s her favorite show!” Ava told Evie making her laugh as she finally understood. “Oh really! I used to love that show when I was younger! Wait, they still play it!” Evie asked in shock as she knew that show was really old and she was surprised that someone like Mal would watch it.

Carlos just laughed as he looked at Evie who was confused while the toddler was trying to play her show. “Not really but we happened to have all the old DVDs and we downloaded them so she can watch them anywhere,” Carlos told Evie, making her nod in understanding. 

“Okay that makes sense! Got it!” Evie told Carlos and Ava, but before anyone could say anything else the small girl got upset as she tugged at Evie’s shirt. “Ebie!” The small toddler screamed out making Evie gasp as she looked at the toddler again.

“Alright sure I’ll watch Dragon with you,” Evie told the toddler, making her smile as she looked at Evie.

“Yay!” The small girl screamed out excitedly making her older siblings laugh as well as they all sat on Mal’s hospital bed together and watched Dragon Tales just enjoying more of their sibling and family time as they all knew this was just the start and it was going to get very difficult soon, but for now they were all just happy to be together. 

  
  



	20. Ava Needs A Break

“Okay how did you finish all your school work already!” Carlos screamed out as he looked at Evie who was sitting on Ava’s bed holding the small toddler close to her while they were watching Dragon Tales again as Mal had no energy to do anything else. 

It had been about a week since they had been discharged from the hospital and in that time Evie’s adoption had gotten approved meaning she was officially living with them all and had quickly become one of Mal’s favorites. Carlos had also finally given up on his idea of still going to Auradon Prep as he wanted to be close to his baby sister to be there for her.

Carlos was now going to the same school as Evie and Carlos was struggling with the transfer of schools. He wasn’t used to how they did things and he was starting to really miss his old school.

Evie just laughed a little as she continued to rub her fingers through Mal’s thinning hair making Ava groan a little as she had been telling Evie over and over again to not do that as it was better to not mess with her hair as much, but Mal felt comfort from it, so Evie kept doing it.

“Because I don’t procrastinate! Unlike someone!” Evie playfully told her brother, making Carlos roll his eyes as he looked up from his project. “Hey I have an excuse!” Carlos screamed out causing Ava to lose it as she put her textbook down as she was getting sick of Carlos trying to use Mal’s cancer as an excuse for everything.

She was struggling trying to make things work and here Carlos was using it as an excuse to get out of things and Ava knew Carlos wasn’t trying to be insensitive, but it was just hard because she was struggling trying to provide for them all and pay for treatment while constantly monitoring Mal.

Ava couldn’t risk anything as Mal could go from happy and healthy to basically dying in the matter of seconds right now. Ava just quickly looked at her brother in frustration as she pointed to the struggling toddler on the bed who was barely even awake as she was just feeling exhausted and sick.

“You are not using the cancer card!” Ava screamed out in frustration making Carlos sigh as he really was struggling in school. It was hard for him to concentrate knowing his sister could be dying, but he didn’t want people to see that.

Ava was going through a lot and the last thing she needed was another struggling kid and Carlos was pretty good with holding in his emotions. “But it’s true!” Carlos screamed out making Ava get more frustrated.

“I know it’s true! But you’re not using it!” Ava screamed out as she was just way too stressed and tired as she hadn’t been able to relax let alone sleep for weeks after finding out about Mal having cancer.

Carlos just looked over as he got a small glimpse of his struggling baby sister and he quickly held back tears not wanting to look like he was struggling as he quickly put his act back on as he pretended to just care about not doing work when that was far from the truth.

“But I’m gonna fail this project!” Carlos screamed out, keeping up his act. Ava, still not able to see through Carlos’ act just got more upset as she pointed to Evie who had completed all her work as Evie was a model student and had always been. 

“That’s on you! Evie managed to get hers completed!” Ava screamed out making Evie smile proudly about herself as she couldn’t help it. She loved showing off it was just who she was. “Not just completed I got my grade already! I got a 100! Take that! I’m so getting into this school!” Evie screamed out excitedly as she was always working hard on her school work and just wanted to get into BHU so much.

Carlos just sighed as he looked at his sister. He loved Evie, but he could tell that Evie was just a better kid than he was and it was obvious that Ava was starting to prefer her over him. It was making him a little jealous even though he would never admit it.

“Yeah but you’ve been going to this school since forever! I just started!” Carlos quickly told his sister trying to stop the comparison between him and Evie as it was starting to bother him and make him feel bad.

He was trying his best, but no matter what he did he just couldn’t figure it out while Evie could do it so easily. Evie quickly noticed that her brother needed help as she motioned for Carlos to come by her as she wanted to help him, but she also didn’t want to disturb the sick toddler that was cuddled up on her. 

“It’s easy! Here let me help!” Evie told her brother wanting to make him feel better. Carlos just smiled as he looked at his sister happy that she was willing to help him, but Ava quickly stopped him as she didn’t like that Carlos was using Evie for everything.

“No!” Ava screamed out as she looked at Carlos making him upset. “Come on why not!” Carlos screamed out making Ava roll her eyes as Carlos had tried this on her earlier.

“Because I know what you’re doing! You’re gonna make Evie do all the work!” Ava screamed out as she was just not in the mood and she just wanted to relax, but she couldn’t risk it. Carlos just rolled his eyes.

“What! No I’m not!” Carlos screamed out making Ava get annoyed again. “I’m not stupid! You tried that trick on me earlier!” Ava screamed out making Carlos not be able to control it anymore as he slammed his books down.

“Ugh this isn’t fair! Why do I even have to do school work when my baby sister has cancer!” Carlos screamed out causing Ava to lose it again as she couldn’t take it anymore. Carlos wasn’t taking anything seriously while she was struggling.

“There you go again! Carlos this isn’t some joke! You can’t just use Mal’s cancer to your advantage!” Ava screamed out as she started to get really angry causing the small girl who had been peacefully watching Tv to start crying in fear.

Evie just quickly pulled the toddler closer as she hummed a little bit. “Aw it’s okay sweetie. Ava maybe you just need a break! You look like you could use one!” Evie told Ava wanting to stop the fighting from escalating as she could tell it was getting bad.

Ava just looked at her sister as if she lost it as she couldn’t believe Evie would bring up something like that when she knew how much care and attention Mal required right now. “I can’t! Mal requires constant surveillance!” Ava screamed out making Evie smile a little as she carefully got up from the bed with the toddler and stood by Carlos.

“But Carlos and I can handle it!” Evie told Ava making Ava look at the younger two as if they had lost it. They had no clue how dangerous that could be as Mal was very sensitive and anything could make her go from happy and healthy to dying. She wouldn’t risk that.

“You’re 14! I’m not leaving two 14 year olds in charge of a toddler with Leukemia! Her health can go from 0-100 real quick!” Ava screamed out making Evie hold back her urge to cry at Ava’s tone as it was starting to remind her of her foster mom, but Evie quickly recovered as she looked at Ava.

“What about your friend Alison!” Evie asked her sister trying to calm her down as she remembered the really nice lady that had taken time to talk to her and get to know her when Ava was too stressed out to even look at her.

“What about her!” Ava screamed out not getting what Evie was saying causing Evie to start getting more scared, but she quickly covered it up again as Ava hadn’t fully lashed out on her yet.

“She can be here too, so that way if anything does happen there’s an adult! I’m really worried about you! You barely sleep or eat! And you look super stressed!” Evie told her sister as she was really worried about her big sister and just wanted to help her.

Ava just completely lost it after that as she was just not in the mood for anything causing her to lash out on Evie without realizing it.

“Of course! Our baby sister who I am raising as a 20 year old in college has cancer and can go from totally fine to needing to be rushed to the hospital! How can I possibly not be stressed! And you are not helping! I don’t need you to constantly baby me! And your cheery voice is just so annoying and not helpful at all! Just stop trying to help all the time! You can’t fix anything!” Ava screamed out to Evie causing Evie to start crying as she started getting flashbacks to her foster mom who would yell at her like that.

“I am so sorry! I was just trying to help! My foster mom was right, I'm nothing and I’m just a burden to everyone!” Evie sobbed out as she started gasping for air causing Ava to quickly snap out of her anger as she ran to Evie in concern.

“Evie, calm down! It’s okay! I didn't mean that! I am so sorry! You are not a burden and you do help a lot. I'm just really tired and stressed and I really shouldn’t have taken it out on you. Come here I love you okay. Please I am so so so sorry! You’re right Evie I need a break. I just worry so much about Mal and what if something happens while I’m gone! I’ll never forgive myself!” Ava cried out as she pulled Evie close to her making Evie relax as she looked at Ava.

“It’s okay you just really reminded me of The Evil Queen for a second,” Evie told Ava, making Ava look at Evie in concern as Evie had a panic attack because she thought she sounded like her foster mom.

“Evie am so sorry! And what did your foster mom do to you,” Ava told Evie making her shrug a little as she picked up the toddler. “Oh you know just yelled a lot and sometimes she would throw stuff at me. You know the usual, but it’s fine now! I mean I have a nice home now with amazing siblings. And Ava please just call Alison you really need a small break,” Evie told her sister, making Ava sigh as she still wasn’t sure.

Carlos decided to join in after that as he walked over to them all. “I agree with Evie!” Carlos told Ava making her roll her eyes as she knew Carlos was just trying to get out of his work.

“Of course you do because you think it’ll get you out of your school work!” Ava told her little brother, making him roll his eyes as he just wanted to help his sister, but Ava was still being stubborn.

“No I’m serious! Ava this isn’t good for your health either! Just call Alison! She can be in charge for a few hours!” Carlos told Ava, making her sigh as she looked at her concerned siblings.

“Alright fine! I’ll call Alison, but I still feel like I shouldn’t do this,” Ava told her siblings as she grabbed her phone and called Alison to come help. Ava sighed when a few minutes later she heard a knock at the door as Alison had arrived already.

Ava just looked at her friend still feeling uneasy about this. “Are you sure about this! What if she spikes a fever or something! Or what if she needs another blood transfusion! You know what, I can’t do this! I’m sorry for wasting your time!” Ava rambled out worriedly to Alison as she wanted a break, but there was just too much that could go wrong.

Alison just quickly pulled her friend into a hug as she was worried about her friend as well as Ava looked like she was struggling.

“Ava, look at me it’s going to be fine okay. Just go relax a little bit. I promise I have everything under control. And I have your list right here of all signs and all emergency numbers. Along with what medicine to take and when. Everything will be fine as long as you don’t do anything stupid!” Alison told Ava trying to reassure her that she had everything under control.

Ava just nodded, still not feeling right about it. “Okay, but I still feel like I shouldn’t do this!” Ava told Alison who just smiled as she pushed Ava out the door. “Go I promise I can handle it!” Alison told Ava as she made Ava leave and then turned her attention back to the others as she figured this would be easy. It couldn’t be that hard right. 

  
  



	21. Another Health Scare For Mal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Merry Christmas to everyone that celebrates and happy holidays. I know this is a sad story and not really something you would expect on Christmas, but I finished this chapter today and didn’t feel like waiting to post it. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you thought. And again Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 🎄🎁

Once Ava left she went to the student union and sat down in one of the chairs as she pulled out her flask which was loaded with alcohol. Ava knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t help it. The alcohol numbed the pain and right now she needed it more than ever.

Ava had no clue what she was doing, but she couldn’t believe how much her life had taken a turn. It all happened once Mal was born not that Ava was blaming her baby sister. She would never do that.

She loves Mal and she couldn’t imagine a life without her adorable little sister, but the truth was everything started to go down hill once she was born. It wasn’t Mal’s fault, but it was partially true.

Ava was interrupted when her friends Caitlin and Dylan happened to be passing by as they were there to get some food and they had immediately noticed Ava looking horrible while she was sobbing and chugging down drinks. 

The two friends didn’t even hesitate as they quickly ran over to their clearly broken friend wanting to help her. “Ava! Are you okay!” Caitlin screamed out as she quickly got to Ava and tried to hug her, making Ava roll her eyes as she pushed Caitlin away not wanting anymore pity as she was sick of it.

Everyone was treating her differently lately as they all felt bad for Ava and she couldn’t take it anymore. She was struggling and she didn’t even feel like herself anymore. Ava just looked at Caitlin as she scoffed as she couldn’t believe Caitlin had the audacity to ask her something like that when it was obvious Ava was not okay.

Ava would never be okay as she was going to have to deal with this for years and that’s if Mal’s body responds well to treatment. 

“Yeah no I’m doing great! My two year old has cancer, I have no job, oh and I now have another family member that I have to raise! But yeah no I’m totally okay and not struggling at all!” Ava screamed out as she chugged her drink again she was sick of it all. 

If people were going to ask her that same question every 5 minutes then they were going to get the real answer because she was sick of lying. Caitlin just gave her friend a sympathetic look as she tried to hug her again hating seeing her friend like that.

“Ava I told you we can help!” Caitlin told Ava as she just wanted Ava to know that she wasn’t alone, but Ava didn’t care as she pushed Caitlin away again and started to drink again. “I don’t need your pity!” Ava screamed out as she chugged more of her flask making Caitlin and Dylan get concerned as they could see Ava was drinking too much.

Caitlin just quickly grabbed Ava’s flask trying to stop her from over drinking. “Ava you need to stop this!” Caitlin screamed out, but Ava just rolled her eyes as she ripped the flask away from Caitlin.

“Why should I stop! Maybe it will kill me and end my suffering!” Ava screamed out as she was seriously starting to to question everything as it was just too much. Dylan and Caitlin both just looked at their friend in shock and concern as they couldn’t believe she would dare to say something like that.

“Ava don’t talk like that!” Dylan screamed out as he couldn’t believe she had just said that. Ava just rolled her eyes again as she looked at her friends. “Why not! It’s true!” Ava screamed out as she put the flask to her mouth and chugged the entire flask making Caitlin and Dylan look at her in shock again.

“AVA!” Dylan and Caitlin screamed out at the same time as they quickly ran back over to her and tried to help her as they were pretty sure she had just over drank. Ava just looked at her concerned friends as she rolled her eyes yet again getting sick of everyone’s fake concern for her.

“I’m fine! Just go!” Ava screamed out as she pushed her friends away yet again and stood up as she had tried to just get away from everything, but her friends just wouldn’t leave her alone.

“No Ava we are worried about you and we want to help! And no more of this! How much have you drank!” Caitlin screamed out as she grabbed Ava’s flask away when she saw Ava starting to fill it back up again. 

Ava just shrugged as she grabbed her flask back and started to fill it back up again as she honestly didn’t care about anything at this point and she was too drunk to really process stuff. 

“I don’t know and I don’t care!” Ava told Caitlin with no emotion making Caitlin lose it as she grabbed the flask yet again this time closing it up and shoving it in her bag, so Ava couldn’t get it anymore as she was extremely worried about her friend who was struggling to stay up.

“Ava too much alcohol can kill you! Sit down before you hurt yourself!” Caitlin screamed out as she quickly looked at Ava and saw her eyes were glossy and she was swaying as it was obvious she was about to pass out. 

Ava just rolled her eyes again as she tried to walk away, but immediately started getting Dizzy even though she tried to ignore it as she wouldn’t admit that her friends were right as she didn’t want to admit it.

“Stop overreacting! I’m…” Ava began, but she couldn’t finish as her dizziness got worse and she started to see black as she couldn’t fight it off anymore and she collapsed into the darkness.

Caitlin and Dylan just watched in shock as they quickly snapped out of it and ran over to their friend as they started to panic. “AVA!” Caitlin and Dylan screamed out as they tried to wake Ava up, but she was completely out of it.

“Come on Ava! Get up!” Caitlin and Dylan screamed out as they continued to try and wake their friend in panic. They began to panic more when Ava’s phone rang and they saw it was Alison calling as they knew that couldn’t be a good thing.

Dylan just quickly picked up the phone while Caitlin continued to try and get Ava up who was starting to come to a little. “Hellos?” Dylan asked right away making Alison confused as she had called Ava, but Dylan had picked up anyway causing her to worry as she really needed to talk to Ava.

“Dylan why do you have Ava’s phone?” Alison screamed out in panic, making Dylan look over to see Ava still passed out. “It’s complicated what’s going on!” Dylan asked Alison in panic as he could tell Alison was freaking which was really worrying him as Alison was usually very chill.

Alison just sighed as she spoke again. “It’s about Mal!” Alison told Dylan in panic, making him freeze up as he knew whatever was going on wasn’t good as Alison was freaking out and she wanted to speak to Ava right away. 

“What about Mal! Is she okay!” Dylan quickly screamed out over the phone in panic as he started to worry about the small girl. Alison just ignored his questions as she didn’t want to waste time with small talk and she just wanted to speak to Ava.

“Where’s Ava!” Alison screamed out making Dylan sigh as he was worried. “I told you it’s complicated! Is she okay!” Dylan screamed out again as he just wanted to know if the toddler was okay, but Alison was just ignoring his questions as she really just needed to speak to Ava.

“I need Ava! Please just get Ava!” Alison told Dylan as she was panicking and didn’t know what to do getting the attention of Caitlin who was still trying to help Ava. “What’s going on!” Caitlin asked Dylan in concern, making him sigh as he didn’t know what was wrong, but he knew they needed Ava to get up.

“Alison needs to talk to Ava! Something is wrong with Mal!” Dylan told Caitlin in panic, making her eyes widen in complete panic as she started to violently shake Ava not wanting to waste anymore time.

“Oh god! AVA! '' Caitlin screamed out hysterically as she continued to violently shake Ava, making Ava groan as she woke up and immediately grabbed her head in pain as she had a massive headache.

“Ugh what happened!” Ava groaned out as she continued to hold her head in pain. Caitlin didn’t waste any time as she shoved the phone at Ava as she was getting sick of Ava’s drinking and she didn’t feel any sympathy for Ava right now as she had done that to herself by drinking even when they tried to stop her.

“You passed out from drinking too much again and Alison needs to talk to you now!” Caitlin screamed out making Ava immediately push away all her confused and dizziness as she grabbed the phone in panic.

“WHAT! What’s going on!” Ava screamed out in panic as soon as she had the phone in her hand making Alison sigh as she looked back to see Evie holding the sobbing toddler as she had a cold rag on the toddler’s forehead trying to bring the girl’s temperature down as she had learned that trick from volunteering while Carlos was panicking as he didn’t know what to do.

“Mal spiked a fever! And she can’t stop throwing up!” Alison screamed out in panic making Ava fill with panic as she quickly got up. “ARE YOU SERIOUS!” Ava screamed out in panic making Alison start crying as she didn’t know what to do.

“Yes! Ava I don’t know what to do!” Alison screamed out again making Ava quickly panic as she pushed past Caitlin and Dylan ignoring all their questions as she was only focused on getting home to Mal.

“Okay I’m on my way now!” Ava screamed out as she went running to her dorm in panic. While Ava was running to the dorm the small toddler was sobbing uncontrollably and shaking in Evie’s arms as Evie was trying to help her.

Evie had a lot of experience in that kind of stuff as she was a volunteer at the cancer center and had seen plenty of kids go through what Mal was going through. “Hey it’s okay. You’re gonna be okay. Don’t worry.” Evie told the sobbing toddler as she rubbed her back trying to comfort her.

“Is she gonna die! I can’t lose her!” Carlos screamed out in panic as he wasn’t used to seeing things like this while Evie just sighed as she hummed a little trying to comfort the toddler who she could tell was freaking out more from Carlos.

“Carlos she’s fine! I promise this is normal okay! Please stop freaking out that freaks her out more and makes it worse!” Evie told Carlos, making him nod as he continued to freak out only silently.


	22. Staying Calm Is Hard To Do

“Wahhhh! Wahhhh!” Mal cried out in Evie’s arms making Evie hold back tears as she kept rocking Mal and trying to help her. She just wanted Ava to get there already because she was just a kid and she had no clue what she was doing at this point.

Alison had tried to help, but she started freaking out leaving Evie a fourteen year old kid in charge of keeping everyone calm. “Hey it’s okay Mal. I know. I know. It sucks Mal I know,” Evie told the sobbing girl as she continued to try and calm her down.

This continued for a few more minutes until the door finally slammed open and Ava ran inside immediately alerting Alison who ran to Ava. “I don’t know what to do! Thank god you’re here Ava!” Alison exclaimed as soon as Ava entered the room.

And Carlos ran to Ava as well. “AVA FINALLY! MAL REALLY NEEDS HELP!” Carlos screamed out in panic, making Ava’s eyes widen as she got a look at Mal in Evie’s arms as she ran over as fast as she could picking up the shaking and extremely pale toddler that was sobbing in pain. 

“Oh my gosh! She’s burning up! Okay that’s it I’m taking her to the hospital now!” Ava screamed out in panic as she took Mal from Evie and the small girl was completely burning up with a fever and she remembered how dangerous it can be for her to have a fever with her extremely weak immune system.

“NO!” The small toddler cried out as she didn’t want to go back to the scary hospital. Ava just sighed as she quickly grabbed her keys. “Yes Mal we’re going!” Ava told the toddler leaving no argument for the toddler as she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

“We’re coming too!” Evie quickly told Ava and Carlos nodded in agreement. “Yeah!” Carlos told Ava joining in with Evie to let Evie know that they were united in their stance. Ava just shook her head no as she didn’t want to focus on watching all 3 of them and just wanted to focus on Mal.

“No you’re not stay here with Alison!” Ava told the two teens not wanting to leave them by themselves, but also not wanting to take them with her as she just wanted to worry about one kid and put all her focus on Mal.

Carlos and Evie both just looked at each other in agreement as they didn’t like the way Ava was treating them as if they were babies that needed a babysitter. “But Ava we’re not little kids!” Carlos whined out and Evie nodded in agreement as she hated being treated like a child.

“Yeah and we want to see our baby sister!” Evie told Ava backing Carlos up, making Ava become more frustrated as she couldn’t deal with this. “I said no! It’s safer with less people! Stay here!” Ava told the twins making Carlos more upset as he was sick of Ava acting like she knew everything.

He was the one that took care of Mal longer than she did and now she just came in and stole his job demoting him to a stupid kid. “Ugh this isn’t fair! We wanna be there for Mal too!” Carlos whined out again, making Ava lose it.

“CARLOS!” Ava screamed out as a warning for him to shut his mouth or it would be worse. Carlos just groaned as he was about to start arguing more, but Alison stepped in not wanting to see another argument when the main focus should be on the sick toddler.

“Ava is right! It’s better if you stay here, but you can visit soon okay,” Alison told the two teens who sighed knowing Alison was right even if they didn’t want to admit it. “Ugh fine!” Carlos groaned out as he sat back down in his chair giving up on arguing.

“Okay thank you so much for this Alison! I owe you one,” Ava told Alison who just hugged Ava close before letting go. “No it’s fine Ava. I promised to help you out and that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve got them just focus on helping Mal okay,” Alison told Ava who nodded as she quickly left with Mal to the hospital.

Once Ava had left with Mal, Carlos threw his pencil down in frustration as he was sick of it all. “This isn’t fair! I’m sick of being treated like a baby! I raised her for 2 years! I dealt with every medical emergency that she has been through! I was the only one there with her when she was in the NICU for 3 months! I should be there with her right now!” Carlos rambled out in frustration as he couldn’t take it anymore.

Evie just sighed as she sat down by Carlos. “I agree this isn’t fair, but I think Ava is right. It will be easier if Ava doesn’t have to focus on all of us and can just focus on Mal. And besides I’ve seen kids go through that all the time. It’s normal I promise. It’s just a side effect of Chemo,” Evie told her brother trying to help him calm down, but she was also saying it to herself as well.

Evie knew the best thing right now was to keep staying optimistic. “Yeah but then why…” Carlos began, but didn’t get to finish as Alison had happened to overhear the twin’s conversation and decided to join in.

“Carlos, Ava is taking Mal to the hospital just to make sure that everything is fine just in case, but Evie is most likely right. It’s going to be okay. Now just focus on getting that homework done okay,” Alison told the young boy trying to help keep the teens calm as she felt bad for the kids.

They were struggling as well, but they were trying to be strong for their baby sister and Alison could see that. She had always been good at reading people. She knew they were trying to act like they were fine, but deep down the two teens were struggling as well.

Carlos just sighed knowing that Alison was right and arguing was just going to make things worse. He just looked back down at his paper deciding to try his homework, but he sighed again in frustration when he realized he didn’t know any of the answers.

“Okay fine, but I still don’t understand anything!” Carlos screamed out in frustration as he threw another pencil making Evie sigh as she picked up Carlos’ pencil and sat down by him looking at his paper.

“Okay come here let me help! Okay now you need to switch this with this! Okay great! See now you’re doing it! Good Job!” Evie praised Carlos as she helped him out with his homework knowing that he wasn’t just trying to get away with anything and just really needed help.

“Hey I understand this now! Thanks!” Carlos told Evie excitedly as he was finally starting to understand his chemistry assignment making Evie laugh as she loved helping out her brother.

“No problem! Now let’s work on the next one!” Evie told Carlos, making him smile as he moved onto the next question. “Okay!” Carlos told Evie who laughed as she continued to help Carlos out with his homework keeping them both busy and occupied, so they weren’t focusing on their baby sister who they still didn’t know anything about. 

  
  



	23. No More!

Ava just sighed as she sat in the same plastic chair of the waiting room with the scent of hand sanitizer and disinfectant again as she couldn’t believe she was back at the hospital yet again. Ava was really starting to hate the smell of cleaning supplies as it reminded her of this stupid hospital that she basically lived at now.

Ava didn’t get how life could do this to her baby sister. Just a few weeks ago Ava didn’t even know where this hospital was located and now it was basically the only place other than school that she went to.

It was honestly crazy to her how fast life could completely change and it really has made her reflect on her life and what she had taken for granted. She had taken her sister for granted too.

She should have paid more attention and time on her instead of focusing on stupid and pointless stuff like the past. She should have been focusing on what she had and not what she had lost.

And she never should have sent Mal and Carlos away. She had missed out on so much that she was too selfish to see. She missed out on all of Mal’s firsts and she missed Carlos becoming a teen and his first day of high school.

She had treated them as if they didn’t matter because never in a million years did she expect for something like this to happen to her baby sister. She barely knew Mal heck Evie who had just found out about them a week ago was closer with Mal then Ava was.

Ava had failed at her job and now she may never get to make it up to Mal. She had taken Mal for granted because she thought she had all the time in the world with Mal because of how young she was.

And she thought missing a few years wouldn’t do much, but she hadn’t taken into account that nothing was ever guaranteed in life. Ava’s deep life reflection was interrupted when she felt something collide with her head as she heard giggling follow after it.

Ava just looked over to see the toddler who was starting to feel a little better as she was smiling at Ava. “Mama! I aw bewow! Go how,” the small toddler told Ava, making Ava sigh as she knew Mal hated the hospital as much as she did, but she also knew that she couldn’t just go home without making sure everything was fine first.

“Mal we can’t go home yet,” Ava told the toddler, making her start crying as she just wanted to go home. “Mama I no wanna be hew!” Mal cried out after they had just finished running a bunch of tests and they were now just sitting in a hospital room waiting on the results.

Ava just sighed as she looked at the crying toddler who was sitting in the crib like hospital bed and hooked up to more wires. Ava really hated seeing Mal like that, but unfortunately it was becoming a normal look.

“I know Mal, but the doctor needs to make sure you’re okay,” Ava told the toddler as she massaged Mal’s tiny hand with her thumb as she knew Mal liked that as it calmed her down. Ava continued to do that until Mal fell asleep.

Ava just sighed as she looked at the sleeping toddler as she hated seeing Mal like this. Just as Ava was starting to relax a little the door opened immediately alerting her as she saw it was the doctor.

“So what’s wrong? Did you get the results!” Ava practically screamed out as soon as the doctor opened the door making the doctor laugh a little as she sat down by Ava and pulled out some of the charts and paperwork that she ran.

“Everything seems to be normal. She isn’t showing any concerning signs. It could just be some side effects from her starting chemo. We do want to keep her here for a little bit to make sure everything continues to be on track though just in case,” the doctor told Ava as she went over all the results from the tests they ran wanting Ava to be informed on everything.

Ava just nodded as she started to relax a little seeing that Mal seemed to be doing well. “Okay, but treatment is working right?” Ava asked the doctor wanting to make sure as she could see all the charts and numbers, but she still didn’t understand what half of it meant and she just wanted a simple answer. 

The doctor just laughed a little bit as she nodded. “Yes based on the recent scans we just did her cancer cell count has gone down a lot,” the doctor told Ava making her sigh in relief as she nodded, taking in the information.

“Thank god!” Ava sighed out in relief making the doctor nod as she knew it was a good thing, but she also knew that this battle was far from over and she didn’t want Ava celebrating too early.

“It’s definitely a good sign however she’s still not in remission which means that we still can’t move onto the next step of intensification yet,” the doctor told Ava who just nodded still having no clue what any of that meant, but again she just wanted to know if the treatment was working or not.

“Okay but it is working right and nothing bad is happening right!” Ava asked the doctor again as she didn’t care about all the complicated medical terms and she just wanted the simple answer of yes or no to if Mal was doing well or not.

The doctor just sighed when she realized Ava wasn’t interested in all the information and she just wanted a simple explanation.

“Based on all the tests we ran she’s doing pretty well yes, but we do still want to keep her here just to be sure especially with her younger age as her body isn’t as developed as the more older children’s,” the doctor told Ava who just nodded taking in the information as she was just relieved to know Mal was doing well.

“Okay thank you!” Ava told the doctor who smiled as she got up. “Of course!” The doctor told Ava as she left. Once the doctor left the small toddler started to stir as she looked at Ava. “Mama we sa hew?” The small two year old asked Ava making Ava sigh as she hated having to tell this to the innocent little girl.

“Yeah Mal we have to stay here again,” Ava told Mal sadly making the toddler cry more as she just wanted to go home. “We nebew weabe!” The small toddler cried out making Ava sigh as she wiped Mal’s tears away.

“I know Mal. I’m so sorry,” Ava told the toddler feeling sad that Mal had to go through this. Mal just pushed Ava’s hands away as she started throwing a tantrum not being able to take it anymore.

“Bu I wan go ow! No mow! No mow! I no wanna be hew! I no wike id! No mow owies! No mow owies! I no wan id no mow!” The small two year old screamed and cried out as she ripped out the wires before Ava even had time to process what was happening as she took off running as fast as she could not wanting anymore poking and treatment.

“MAL!” Ava screamed out in panic as she immediately started running as fast as she could after the toddler who had taken off. Ava needed to find Mal right away as this wasn’t just a regular situation. This was serious. The small two year old was a run away cancer patient. 

  
  



	24. Finding Mal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you all thought. Also this chapter will be introducing another new character, so I really hope you like it. 

“What do you mean!” Evie screamed out after Ava called panicking because Mal had apparently broken out of the cancer center. Evie didn’t understand how a literal baby could manage to get past a bunch of hospital staff, but apparently it had happened. 

“Okay I’m coming!” Evie quickly told Ava as she hung up the phone and then quickly got up as she knew that area the best as she used to go there everyday for volunteering before she quit to focus more on her brand as they needed the money more than Evie needed the volunteer hours.

“Evie where are you going,” Alison asked the young girl who sighed. “Ava lost Mal and I have to help her look for her because I know that area! And because Mal trusts me,” Evie told Alison as she quickly opened the door and went running to help Ava find the missing toddler.

While Ava and Evie were quickly searching for the missing toddler, Mal was running as fast as her little legs would let her as she didn’t want to go back to the mean and scary place, but she was growing extremely weak and tired as she dizzly ran into the street not seeing the car that happened to be coming.

“Oh my god!” A brunette girl screamed out as she quickly pulled the toddler out of the road just in time, saving the small girl from getting hit. “What is wrong with you!” April screamed out as she looked at the sick toddler that she had just saved.

She had no clue who this kid was, but she didn’t understand why this kid was just wandering around by herself and she almost got herself killed. The small girl just started sobbing as she couldn’t hold it back anymore as she threw up all over April.

“Oh god! Gross! Why would you do that!” April screamed out in disgust making the toddler start sobbing more as she got dizzy again. April froze when she got a good look at the toddler as she how pale and sick the small girl looked. It was honestly worrying her and she didn’t even know who this kid was.

Before April could process what was happening she saw a blue haired girl who came running as fast as she could as she immediately reached for the sick toddler and April recognized her right away.

Evie was too focused on the toddler to notice though. “Mal why did you run!” Evie asked the toddler who started screaming as she tried to run again, but Evie already had her in her grip. “Mal it’s okay! Please calm down!” Evie told the toddler who kept sobbing as she didn’t want anymore pain and medicine.

“NO! I NO GO BA! NO MOW! NO MOW! NO MOW OWIES! NO MOW!” The small girl cried out at the top of her lungs as she continued to kick and scream until she passed out making Evie sigh as she was about to leave with Mal back to the cancer center, but she was stopped by April who had watched the whole thing in shock.

“Evie?” April asked in shock, making Evie freeze as she saw her dance teacher as no one at dance knew that Evie had found her biological family or that she was living with them and most importantly they didn’t know anything about Mal. “Oh um … hi Miss April,” Evie nervously told her teacher, but she began to panic when she saw the throw up on April.

“Oh my gosh! She threw up on you didn’t she! I am so sorry! She’s been doing that a lot recently. I am so sorry. It’s just one of the side effects of chemo. She can’t help it. I’ll pay double for the next class that should pay for it right!” Evie started rambling out making April look at Evie in shock as she tried to process everything Evie said. 

“Wait hold up! Did you say chemo,” April asked Evie in shock making Evie sigh. “Oh um yeah. She’s actually supposed to be in the hospital right now that’s what she was freaking out about,” Evie told the shocked dance teacher not wanting to go into too many details as Evie didn’t like pity.

“Wait what!” April asked again in shock trying to understand what was going on. Evie just sighed as she looked at her dance teacher as she broke down sobbing, not being able to hold back anymore as Evie had been trying to stay strong, but she couldn’t do it anymore.

April just looked at Evie in concern as she was sobbing and she didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t used to seeing this from Evie who was always so happy and carefree. It was honestly shocking for her to see how much Evie hid from everyone.

Evie cried for a little bit longer before quickly wiping her tears and acting as if none of that happened. “I’m sorry Miss April. I shouldn’t have done that,” Evie quickly told April who just nodded in concern as she didn’t know what was going on but it was obvious Evoe was trying to hide it.

“No Evie it’s fine and I know you don’t like talking about it but,” April began but Evie just quickly interrupted her as she realized that she couldn’t hold in her emotions anymore and it was becoming too much.

“Miss April it’s just that I’ve been going through a lot recently,” Evie told April as she sat down on the park bench while holding her sick sleeping sister close to her and April just nodded in understanding as she sat down by Evie.

“I understand you don’t have to,” April began but Evie just sighed as she looked at her sick baby sister. “No it’s okay I really need to get this out. I found my birth family. But um... it turns out my parents left and my big sister is actually in charge and um... this is my baby sister,” Evie began and April just nodded sadly as she took in the information trying to understand Evie and what she was going through.

“And the reason she’s supposed to be in the hospital and why she’s on chemo is because she um… she um.. She has… she has Leukemia,” Evie sobbed out as she had tried to hold it back, but she just couldn’t do it anymore.

Evie was struggling and she couldn’t take it anymore. April just looked at Evie and Evie’s baby sister as she was feeling horrible and she didn’t know what to say as she hadn’t had to deal with something like this before and she wasn’t that close with Evie either as Evie never really talked about her personal life with anyone.

“Oh my gosh! Evie I am so sorry!” April told the younger girl as she finally found the words and Evie just nodded as she held Mal closer to her and started bawling again. “Why is the world so cruel!” Evie wailed out as she didn’t take her eyes off the toddler as she was afraid to.

April started to cry a little as well as she pulled Evie close to her and just let the young teen cry all over her as she didn’t know what else to do. 

“It hurts so much! I barely even know her and I love her so much. It hurts seeing her in so much pain. I’m trying to be strong but it’s so hard! I want to be optimistic but I’ve been volunteering at the cancer center for years now. A lot of the younger kids don’t make it. I don’t want to lose Mal. And my brother he’s struggling too but he doesn’t want to admit it. And my other sister she’s losing it! She’s trying to provide for us all and she’s taking Mal to treatment and she’s also trying to finish college. It’s just it’s too much for her and I don’t want to make it worse but it hurts! It hurts so much! And I’m so scared Mal is gonna die! What happens if she can’t fight this! I can’t lose her!” Evie cried out again as all of her emotions and stress just came piling out as it was becoming too much for her.

Evie was trying to be strong, but it was just becoming too hard for her to keep her feelings inside anymore. “Evie I am so sorry. I had no idea. How long has this been going on for?” April asked Evie in her most gentle and comforting voice as she wanted to help her.

“Um... since a few weeks ago,” Evie told April nervously, making April sigh a little as Evie had been dealing with this for a few weeks now and had been hiding it. “Why didn’t you tell anyone. Evie I would have understood,” April told Evie in her gentle voice again making Evie shake her head no.

“No you would have pitied me like you are right now. I don’t want pity,” Evie told her dance teacher, making April sigh as she hated seeing one of her dancers suffering like this and Evie was dealing with a lot even though she was trying to downplay it.

“Evie I am not pitting you. Evie what you are going through is serious and I want to help you,” April told the younger girl, making Evie nod in understanding as she felt Mal start to shake again as she knew she needed to get Mal back to the hospital.

“Thank you for understanding Miss April but I should go now,” Evie quickly told her teacher as she started to get up, but April stopped her. “Are you sure?” April asked Evie not wanting to leave Evie alone after Evie’s complete mental breakdown.

“Yeah I have to get Mal back to the hospital and then probably help Carlos with his homework and make sure Ava doesn’t start drinking again. Bye Miss April,” Evie told April as she started to leave again, but got held back yet again.

“Wait hold up!” April asked Evie in shock as she tried to process everything Evie had said and Evie just sighed as she looked at her teacher. “Yeah?” Evie asked as she was growing impatient.

“Ava is your sister in charge?” April asked Evie who sighed as she nodded. “Yeah,” Evie told April trying to figure out what April was getting at. “How often does she drink?” April asked Evie who shrugged a little as that didn’t really matter to her right now and she just wanted to get Mal back to the hospital.

“I don’t know a lot I guess. She says it numbs the pain,” Evie told April who just looked at Evie in shock at what she was hearing. She couldn’t believe Evie was living like that. “So the person in charge of you right now is a college student who drinks all the time,” April asked in shock making Evie sigh as she knew what April was getting at, but in reality it wasn’t that bad and it was way better than living with her foster mom.

“Well yeah I guess, but it’s fine. It’s better than living with my foster mom “The Evil Queen” I swear she was evil,” Evie told April who was still focusing on what Evie had told her before.

“And this same college student is in charge of a toddler who has cancer,” April asked Evie again, making Evie sigh as she didn’t want to do this. “Yeah but to be honest I do most of the caring for her because I’m used to working with cancer kids because of my volunteering. Anyway I really gotta go. I have to get Mal back to the hospital,” Evie told April who sighed as she knew Evie didn’t want to talk about it anymore despite her still wanting to.

“Wait! How did you get here?” April asked Evie when she remembered that Evie was only 14 and couldn’t drive yet as she realized Evie was going to be walking by herself at night.

“Oh I walked!” Evie told April who sighed as she grabbed her keys. “Evie, it's late out. Alright come on,” April told the young girl who looked at her in confusion as she didn’t understand what April was saying.

“What do you mean?” Evie asked in confusion making April roll her eyes. “I mean I’m taking you to the cancer center. You’re not walking there in the dark, it's dangerous” April told Evie in a tone that Evie recognized as a don't question me tone and she nodded in understanding.

“Okay fine but only because it will get us to the cancer center quicker,” Evie told April who nodded as she led Evie to her truck while she would sneak glances at Evie who was holding the sick toddler and she couldn’t help but feel horrible seeing what they were going through as she wished she could do something to help, but she knew that was impossible. 

  
  



	25. Back To The Second Home

“Alright Mal come on wake up we’re here,” Evie told the toddler once they had reached the cancer center as she carefully shook Mal to wake her up. The small toddler just stirred as 

“Wew we go,” the small toddler asked her big sister when she had started to stir and woke up to find herself sitting in a car with Evie. Evie just sighed as she knew Mal was going to freak out if she found out where they were.

“Mal I know you hate it here, but you have to go back,” Evie told her baby sister in her gentle voice hoping to stop Mal from throwing a tantrum, but unfortunately that didn’t work as Mal started screaming and thrashing as soon as she realized what Evie was talking about.

“NO! NO! NO! I NO GO! I NO GO! EBIE NO MA ME! PWEASE NO MA ME” The small girl cried out at the top of her lungs causing Evie to wince as she was used to kids screaming like that with her volunteering at the cancer center and because this wasn’t the first time Mal had a tantrum like this. 

April just looked at Evie and the screaming toddler in concern as she didn’t know what to do but she hated seeing this small girl screaming like that.

This was not just a regular tantrum that kids threw to get their way this was clearly a traumatized scream and desperate cry of pain. She had never heard a kid scream like this before and it was terrifying her.

Evie noticing April’s concerned face just sighed as she picked up Mal who was still kicking and screaming hysterically. “I know this looks bad, but it’s normal I promise. She throws a fit like this during every treatment day. It’s the worst feeling in the world, but unfortunately she has to go and this is unfortunately becoming normal. Anyway I should get her back to her room. Thank you so much Miss April for driving us bye,” Evie told April as she got out of the car with the kicking and screaming toddler and tried to leave, but she was pulled back by April who wanted to talk with Evie’s guardian.

“Not so fast I’ll walk with you,” April told Evie who really didn’t want to keep entertaining her teacher especially because she didn’t know April that well. “Oh um that’s okay. I can handle it by myself,” Evie told April who rolled her eyes as she got out of the car.

April didn’t like the situation that Evie and her family was in and she wanted to make sure Evie and her sister were safe. Plus she wanted to talk with Ava about how she treats them all because she didn’t think it was right for Ava to be drinking all the time and leaving all the responsibilities on a child who was clearly struggling.

“Oh you thought I was offering. No I’m not offering I’m telling you. Come on,” April told Evie who just sighed as she bounced the screaming toddler as she knew she wasn’t in the mood to be arguing anymore as her teacher was stubborn she had seen her be and she knew this would be an unending cycle and Evie was too exhausted at this point.

Evie was constantly doing everything for everyone and rarely ever getting any free time to just relax anymore, but she knew that no one in their family was at this point, but Evie was extra busy.

She was the one having to help her brother in school, help calm Mal and comfort her all the time, try and stop Ava drinking, work on her business all while still going to school. It was just too much at this point, but Evie would never admit that to her family.

She was the glue holding them all together at this point. They needed her, so it didn’t matter anyway. “Okay fine come on,” Evie told April as she walked towards the entrance leading April with her.

“Evie oh you found her this is why you were our best volunteer,” the receptionist jokingly told Evie when she saw Evie come back in with Mal who had given up on kicking and screaming as she had tired herself out but she was still crying as she didn’t want to be there at all.

“Well you know me. Anyway is it the same room,” Evie tiredly asked the receptionist who just sighed sadly as she looked at the crying toddler. “Yeah it’s the same room. Your sister is out though. Your brother is here though,” the receptionist told Evie who groaned as she nodded.

“Okay thank you Mrs Amy,” Evie told the receptionist who just nodded sadly as she had grown a liking to Evie while she had been volunteering for them and the young girl was always so full of happiness and love.

Evie had been through a lot but she always had a smile on her face and made everyone’s day better. Seeing what the toddler was going through and knowing that this innocent little girl was Evie’s sister and it was obvious Evie was struggling was hard for her to see.

When they reached the room Mal tried to run again, but she stopped when she saw Carlos as she ran towards him. “CAWOS!” The small toddler screamed out excitedly as she ran as best as she could towards her big brother who laughed as he hugged Mal close to him just relieved that Mal was okay.

“Hey pup you scared us why did you leave,” Carlos asked his baby sister who pointed to the hospital equipment. “No wike id,” Mal told Carlos who nodded as he placed Mal back in her crib like hospital bed where she was immediately poked and prodded as the doctors and nurses put all the IV’s and wires that Mal had pulled off before back in this time securing them to where it would be impossible for the toddler to leave.

“I know you don’t pup, but it’s to help you. Trust me we all gotta do stuff we don’t like for instance this project. I don’t want to do it, but I have to in order to pass the class. You don’t like the medicine, but you need it in order to pass the next level of life. Oh and look what I have,” Carlos told the small girl as he pulled out a dragon stuffed animal making Mal’s face light up as she became excited.

“Sawbewy!” Mal cried out excitedly as she reached for the dragon making both Evie and Carlos laugh at how cute and happy their baby sister was as she was finally starting to return some of her regularness.

“Strawberry,” April asked Evie, not understanding what was going on. “Yeah that’s her favorite stuffed animal. She loves dragons and the color purple. And strawberries are her favorite food. Strawberry is kinda a symbol of who she is,” Evie told April who nodded.

“Well anyway thank you for driving us but I think we got it from here,” Evie told April just wanting to be alone with her family, but before April could respond Carlos who had been so distracted with Mal to even notice another girl in the room looked up as he finally noticed April’s presence.

“Whoa no way who is this! She looks just like you and Ava,” Carlos told Evie in amazement, making Evie roll her eyes as she sat by Mal while April was in shock, but before she could question Carlos on what he said the door opened as Ava entered.

“Oh thank god you found her,” Ava told Evie in relief as she had been so worried about Mal and she had tried her hardest to find Mal, but she couldn’t find her anywhere. She had started to fear the worse, but she was so relieved that Mal was safe and back in the hospital where she could get her treatment.

“Yes I did. I found her right away,” Evie told Ava who nodded as she sat down finally being able to relax, but she stopped when she looked up and saw a girl in the room that looked exactly like her, but she had never seen her before.

“Um who are you?” Ava asked in shock causing April to get a good look at the girl her age. She had to admit that Ava definitely looked like her, but it was also obvious that the girl wasn’t sober. 

“The person who drove your sisters to the hospital because you let a child with cancer escape! And are you drunk?” April asked Ava as she already hated this girl for how she parented.

April wasn’t a parent, but she knew that you don’t neglect children like this. “Look I am about to spend another week in the hospital with my two year old. What else am I supposed to do to numb the pain!” Ava practically screamed out as she had no clue who this girl was but she was challenging her parenting and Ava wouldn’t stand for that.

She was sacrificing a lot to take care of her siblings and now some girl was trying to come in and judge her parenting when she was trying her hardest and was barely even sleeping anymore just to care for her siblings especially Mal.

“I know Evie told me and I am so sorry about Mal but this is not the answer! Getting drunk is not the answer here!” April practically screamed out to Ava as she didn’t like Ava’s attitude.

“It’s my life not yours so mind your own business,” Ava told April as she wanted April to just leave. Mal wasn’t supposed to have many visitors because of her weak immune system and she also just wanted to be with her family and not some rude stranger that didn’t even know her questioning her parenting. 

“Evie is one of my dancers and I care about my dancers so yes it is my business. You shouldn’t be drinking when you’re in charge of kids! I would never do that,” April told Ava as Ava was making her more and more upset the more she talked and Ava was feeling the same towards April.

“Do you think they’re gonna kill each other,” Carlos jokingly asked Evie, making her laugh a little as she knew it wasn’t funny to laugh about this, but she couldn’t help herself and luckily for them Mal was sleeping again as the medicine was making her lose energy again otherwise she would be screaming with the two fighting like they were.

“Maybe my money is on April though,” Evie playfully told Carlos going along with him in hopes of lightening the mood. Carlos just laughed as he watched the two. “No way my money is on Ava I’ve known her my whole life and trust me Ava will win!” Carlos told Evie, making them both laugh.

“Okay then let’s make this interesting. I think April would win and you think Ava so let’s just make it official. I bet you 5 bucks April win,” Evie told Carlos just trying to get a sense of normal teen stuff since she never gets the chance to just be a kid as she’s constantly having to help out with everything. “You’re on!” Carlos told Evie as they shook on it. 

  
  



End file.
